The Road To El Dorado
by sillypandalover91
Summary: After the tragic death of their grandfather, orphaned brothers Lovino and Feliciano Vargas make a name for themselves in 16th century Spain as the country's most wanted con men. After cheating in a game of dice, they win a map to El Dorado. Their stumble with the law lands them in the brig of a ship headed towards the new world where they find the lost city of gold. Human AU
1. Prologue

**The cast:**

**Miguel-Italy/ Feliciano Vargas**

**Tulio- Romano/Lovino Vargas**

**Chel- Spain/Antonio**

**Chief Tannabok- Cuba/Máximo**

**Tzekel-Kan- Mexico/Itzcóatl {pronounced (eetz kwatl)}  
**

* * *

**1504—Spain **

"I can't believe you conned your way onto this voyage by convincing them that you were Christopher Columbus' Cousin." Though Wolfgang said that with exasperation, he couldn't help but smile into his beer stein. People said many things about Romulus Vargas. Things like '_he's a boisterous bastard_' and '_that guy is a no good, wife seducing—_husband seducing when he felt like it_—son of a bitch_' were often tossed his way as if he gave a damn about what they thought about the company he kept. He honestly didn't.

Because despite what people said, Wolfgang knew the truth. Yeah, his friend was all those things but he was also a brilliant man, a decent friend, and, most importantly, he was a wonderful grandfather to his two orphaned grandchildren.

Romulus grinned, "It wasn't hard. We're both Italian."

"Oh, ja? I didn't know all Italians are relatives. That explains why you are all so simple minded."

"Oi! I resent that." The Italian waved his hands about, "Besides, I got a spot on the ship, didn't I? Now you can quite your nagging about me going with you to the new world." Romulus' grin turned flirtatious, "Though you could've just said that you wanted to sail away into the sunset with me. I wouldn't have waited so long and missed the deadline to sign up."

Rolling his eyes, Wolfgang finished the rest of his dinner, "Please. As if I needed to beg. You practically jumped at the opportunity for adventure." His eyes softened and he turned to look at the children playing quietly in the drawing room across from the kitchen. His oldest was huddled with a blanket next to Lovino watching his youngest play with Feliciano. Apparently they were playing house where Ludwig was the daddy, Feli the mommy and Gilbert was their child. Lovino, who refused to be anything related to the _blonde potato eater_, was the dog.

Wolfgang sighed, "Do they know?"

"What," asked Romulus without turning away from the cute scene. Lovi had tried to bite Ludwig's hand when the little German placed a bowl with doggy biscuits, cookies really, in front of him.

"That they're not going to come along."

The older Italian closed his eyes sadly and shook his head, "I don't know what's on the other side of that ocean, amico. Honestly, I don't know why you're even taking Ludwig. Why not leave him here with Gilbert?"

"The only reason Gilbert is staying is because he is ill. If he was healthy I would be bringing him along as well." Wolfgang snorted when Feli flicked his brother on the nose and fretted over his blushing husband. He turned to his friend, "The king said that all that land is rich and perfect for colonizing—"

"Land has to be conquered first," interrupted Romulus. "And what the hell does he know? Christopher said that there were people on that land. Savages. I for one don't want to expose my boys to such a thing. Not until I'm guaranteed that they'll be as far from our colonies as possible." Picking up their dishes, the Italian put them in the dish basin, "Besides, it's not like we're not coming back. I say let me build our home first _then_ bring the kids."

Wolfgang got up to help him wash, "And _I_ say bring them along and be done with it. Don't forget that it was my kin who actually discovered that side of the world first. I've heard stories that the people there are not so bad and can be kind of shown kindness."

"And _that_ is exactly why my people are credited with discovery of the new world and not yours."

While the two men looked over their contract and discussed the voyage in further detail, the four children continued to play. Gilbert let out a sneeze and miserably wiped at his nose with the blanket. Lovi made a face, "That's gross. You're not supposed to use that to clean your nasties. Fratello! Tell him not to clean his nasties on our blankie."

Feli crawled over to the older boy and wiped at his nose with a cloth before tossing it into a bin, "Doggie is right, Gill. That's not clean. You'll stay sick if you're not clean."

"But I'm cold and comfy here," whined Gilbert, "I don't want to get up every time I need to clean my nose."

"Listen to Feli," scolded Ludwig. He handed him a small pouch filled with white cloth squares, "Here and don't blow your nose on their blankie."

"Shit, he can keep the damn thing," muttered Lovino earning a gasp from both Ludwig and Feli.

The two boys stared at him with wide eyes while Gilbert simply cackled, "You totally said a bad word."

"Yeah, so? I've heard worse from Lars down the street."

"You shouldn't curse, Lovi," said Feli, "Doggies don't curse 'cause it's not nice."

Lovi tugged at his pretend tail, which was really his black scarf, from out of his pants and threw it aside, "Yeah, well, I'm not really a dog, idiot. Also, I'm bored. Let's play something else."

"Like what," asked Ludwig feeling a little sad that he couldn't pretend to be Feli's husband anymore. He pulled off his black hat and sat next to his brother.

"I don't know…how about we pretend to be sun gods?"

"Sun gods?"

Feli clapped his hands, "Oh, yes! It's cause we are descendants of sun gods, grandpa said so." The Italian got up and rushed to his grandfather's chest. He quickly unlocked it and stood on his tip toes to dig inside, the hem of his white night gown rising enough for his bloomers to peak through.

Lovino tossed a cookie at both Gilbert and Ludwig, "Oi, don't look at him you perverted imbeciles!"

"Ve, don't be mean, Lovi," said Feli as he came back with a parchment. He rolled it and inside was a drawing of a sun encasing the letter V. Smiling brightly, Feli traced it with his finger, "See? Grandpa says this is our family symbol. We're sun people! Hehe~"

"Our family symbol is an eagle," said Gilbert proudly. "That's cool cause that means we were meant to be, Feli."

"Ve?"

Lovi sputtered out, "What the hell are you talking about? What do either of them have to do with each other?"

"Well, if you think about it, the sun is in the sky and eagles fly in the sky. The eagle will fly as long as there are sun rays warming his feathers."

Feli thought about it before nodding, "Ok. We'll warm your feathers if you guys promise to always fly next to us."

"Deal!" Ludwig shoved his chubby hand out to shake on it but Lovi pushed it away, "What—"

"You can't promise something like that," said the older boy. "You're leaving with your dad and our grandpa tomorrow. How can you promise to always fly next to Feli if you're leaving?"

"Oh…well, it doesn't matter because I promise to come back." Determination filled Ludwig's baby blue eyes, "I promise, Feli."

The Beilschmidts stayed the night with the Vargas. It was more convenient that way and Wolfgang figured that if he was going to have to wake up Romulus that it would be best if he was already inside the house so that he wouldn't have to break in through the window…again. He and his children retreated to the spare room while Romulus tucked in his grandsons.

The next day everyone got up before the sun had started to rise. They gathered their things and made their way to the local orphanage ran by Elizabeta and her husband. Magyar, her uncle, was a good friend of Wolfgang and had offered to watch over the children while he and Romulus were away.

Lovino glared at the door while his grandfather kissed his forehead, "Don't be sad, nipote."

"I'm not sad," spat the eight year old with tears in his eyes. "Why are you even going on that dumb old voyage?"

"I'm going for us. If we can get that land into Spanish hands then we will be rewarded with plots. Could you imagine how wonderful that would be?" Romulus reached over and kissed Feli as well, "I'll be back before you know it and then we can all go to our new home. It's only going to be for a year, boys."

The sound of sniffing pulled the man's attention towards a weeping Feliciano. He'd wrapped his arms around Romulus' leg, "We'll miss you grandpa."

"And I'll miss you two. Don't worry little ones. Elizabeta promised to take good care of you and Gilbert." Romulus took out a small leather pouch and pulled out two small necklaces, "I have a gift for you." Inside were two rings on golden chains. They were far too large for their tiny fingers so they put them around their necks.

Feli gasped, "They have our family symbol!"

Raising his hand, Romulus showed that he was wearing the same ring, "It's so that we always remember that we will always have each other no matter how far away we may be." He tossed his bag over his shoulder and handed another pouch of gold coin to the young brunette woman, "This is for any expenses they may need. Please, I'm counting on you to keep my boys safe and out of trouble."

"Me too," said Wolfgang after hugging his oldest son one last time and gently nudging him towards Rodrich, "Keep an eye out for them."

Elizabeta smiled, "They will be just fine with us. You two have nothing to worry about."

"Danke." Bells began to ring from the docks signifying that the ship was being prepared for departure. Sighing, the German picked up his things, "We'll be on our way then. Be good, Gilbert. Listen to what they tell you and stay out of trouble."

The albino sneezed before nodding, "Ok, vati." He hugged Ludwig and grinned, "Try to have fun even if your awesome big brother isn't there."

Rolling his eyes, Ludwig hugged him, "I'll try." He turned to Feli who was trying his hardest not to cry and smiled, "Remember our promise? I'll be back."

"Ve…"

Blushing, he pulled out a small painting of a sleeping Feli, "Look, that way I can still fly beside you even if you're not next to me."

"Aw…I wanted to give you something else to remember me by."

"What?"

Feli shoved his small push broom forward, "This." His brother rolled his eyes at the gift but that didn't seem to bother the younger boys.

Ludwig tucked the portrait into his shirt and took the broom, "But this is your favorite. Are you sure?"

"Si…only now it's not fair. What do _I_ get to remember you by?"

"Oh, well, what do your people usually give when their friends are going away."

Feli tapped his chin in thought, "A kiss I think."

"I see." Ludwig glanced around to make sure Lovino wasn't watching before inching towards his friend. He didn't really know where to kiss him but remembered seeing the people that were going on the voyage kiss their loved ones on the lips. It was quick and simple. Just a peck before the two pulled away.

"Why are you crying," asked Feli. "Did it hurt?"

The young German shook his head, "Nein." He toyed with his hat before smiling, "Well, I'll see you when I come back, ja?"

"Si!" Gentle arms wrapped around Feli's waist and before he knew it, he was placed on Rodrich's shoulders. He waved to his grandpa and Ludwig, "I'll make lots and lots of sweets for you for when you return! Be safe and don't get sick. If you get sick, remember to stay clean!"

Even Wolfgang cracked a smile at that. He waved back to the children and to Gilbert who was embarrassed at having to hold onto Elizabeth's hand. Romulus—god help him—Romulus was practically hanging off the mast as he shouted promises to his grandchildren that he'd be back for him. As for Ludwig, well, he tried to look over the rail to wave goodbye to his brother and friends but was far too short. His father took pity and picked him up, placing him on his hip so that he could see the others, "Will you be ok without your little friend, Ludwig?"

"Ja, I think so." The child clutched the small broom closer to him, "We'll see each other again someday."

~.~

**3 months later**

Twigs crunched under bare feet as a family of three ran through the jungle. Angry shouts echoed through the trees demanding that they cease their fleeing and face their sacrificial duties with honor. The father caught the smell of sea salt and urged his wife to run towards the beach where he had a small boat waiting for them. Antonio tightened his arms around his mother and glanced over her shoulder in time to see the city's guards take aim with their spear.

"Mama," he yelped. His father pushed her down and through his own before speeding up. They could hear the waves break on the shore line. Now all they had to do was—the family froze.

There on the beach were the remains of a grand ship. Bodies littered the beach, some dressed in strange clothes of various colors. Behind them, they could hear a sharp intake of breath as the guards momentarily forgot that they were supposed to apprehend the family.

"What the hell happened here," asked one of the guards. They pushed back the family and went to investigate.

As his parents murmured to each other about what would happen once they were returned back to El Dorado, Antonio squirmed out of his mother's arms. He wiped his eyes in hopes that his mother wouldn't see that he was frightened. If she did, no doubt she would try something stupid and make another run for it to spare him from the high priest demand that all children born on Uo must be sacrificed to appease the sky gods or else they would eat their sun instead.

He stared at the bodies in front of them in curiosity. A redhead in particular caught his eye. His eyes were half open revealing a rich amber color that was beginning to turn milky with the absence of life. Antonio noticed that he was clutching something to his chest and gently pulled it away from his vice grip. Green eyes widened at the image of Lovino and Feli dressed in white gowns smiling. Well, Feli was smiling, Lovi was glaring at whoever had created the painting.

Antonio couldn't help but smile, "He looks like a tomato. So cute!" The young brunette stuffed the picture into his satchel and crept spared a glance to his parents to make sure that they were still busy talking to one another. He crept to one of the smaller ones dressed in black only to jump back when it moved, "Papa, this one's alive!"

Grains of sand stuck to every available patch of skin on Ludwig's tiny body. Groaning miserably, he cuddled the remains of his push broom closer to himself as he tried to force the memories of what happened out of his mind. Their voyage had been great until they unexpectedly sailed right into a storm. Romulus had tried to convince the captain of an alternate route but he hadn't listened. He doubted that there were any other survivors.

Ludwig rolled onto his back and blinked his eyes open when a shadow came over his face. When his vision came into focus, he found himself staring into the face of a young boy. He yelped, "Wh-who are you? And where the heck are you're pants?!" He frowned when the boy didn't say anything and insisted at staring at his hair.

Reaching out, Antonio tried to pat Ludwig's hair but the German squirmed away. In all his life, all nine years, he'd never seen anyone with hair made from gold. He raised his hands in front of him to show that he meant no harm, "It's ok. I won't hurt you."

"What?" Ludwig shook his head, "I don't understand." He flushed as the kid tried to touch him again and swung Feli's broom in front of him, "What are you doing? Stop that!"

Antonio's parents heard his screams and rushed to the two children. Their reaction was much like their son's and that unnerved Ludwig greatly. He could practically see their minds rushing as they took in the sight of him.

"Mom, did you see his eyes," whispered Antonio. "They're pretty. Don't they look like sapphires? And his hair is gold. Gold!"

"I can see that, son." Antonio's mom knelt down and extended her hand out to Ludwig with a gentle smile, "Hi, little one. Don't be scared." Her face warmed considerably when the boy cautiously accepted her hand, her eyes getting a gleam of cunning when she saw what was in his palm. "When they take us back, let me do the talking. They aren't going to kill us."

When the guards came back they were shocked to see Ludwig cradled in the mother's arms. He had broken down and cried until he fell asleep so he wasn't sure how he arrived to the city. All the German knew was that he was alone now and at the mercy of the strange people who rescued him. The family had been ushered to a temple by the guards where a dark skinned man dressed in colorful cloth smiled sadly, "I'm sorry, Tochtli."

"Don't be, Chief," said Antonio's father. He wrapped a protective arm around his trembling son, "but please don't think that we were running away from our duties."

Another man, this one shorter with a sharp nose and calculating eyes, rose an eyebrow, "Oh?"

The woman who'd been carrying Ludwig, Gupta he thinks he heard her husband call her, held him tighter, "No, sir. We were simply answering the call."

"…the call?"

"Mhm. You see, the gods sent our son a vision. They told him that the sea was going to give birth to a child. A child of the sun with eyes as beautiful as sapphires and hair made from precious gold and that he was to teach him the ways of the temple."

Itzcóatl's interest seemed piqued and he waved his hand for his manservant to bring him his sacred texts, "A child of the sea and sun. And why would they send this vision to your brat instead of me, the high priest? I speak for the gods, woman, not you." A heavy book was placed in his waiting hand and he thumbed through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

"Antonio is next in line to serve the temple of our creators, sir. Who else is better to teach this boy our ways so that he may be prepared to serve our Gods as they please?" Gupta and her husband held their breath as Itzcóatl read. They prayed that their lie would serve its purpose and keep their beloved child alive.

"What proof do you have that he is a son of the sun?"

Gupta gently coaxed Ludwig's fist open and in his palm rested Romulus' golden ring. Itzcóatl tried to take it but Ludwig's fist clenched shut and he brought it over his heart with a glare.

"Well, well," said Itzcóatl with a laugh, "it seems like…I've misread the stars." He slammed his book shut and pulled Ludwig away from Gupta, grimacing when the child started screaming in a mixture of German and Italian, "What language is he speaking?"

"It must be the language of the Gods," chirped Antonio innocently, making the chief stifle a laugh.

"Indeed." The priest handed Ludwig back over to Gupta where he clung to her and glared at Itzcóatl angrily, his push broom hanging off his back. "Well, we'll see if what you say is true. I'll convene with the stars tonight and if what you say is true then we must prepare for the Gods arrival."

Sensing the family's tension, Chief Máximo stood up, "Surely we should give them time to arrive. It could be years."

Itzcóatl scoffed, "I _know_. After all a mere minute for them could be decades for us mere mortals." He paced in thought before nodding, "Fine, your son will be spared but if I find out that this was all a lie, a mass sacrifice will be ordered and I'll make sure that everyone knows that it was you and your family's fault that the sky gods were cheated."

The family bowed to their chief and scurried back to their house. There they offered Ludwig a change of clothes but he refused. It wasn't descent he insisted but Gupta gave him a stern look and pointed to the dark blue cloth. At night, after refusing to eat, Ludwig stared out the window dressed in the blue cloth. His lower lip trembled as he thought about his dad. He'd fallen over board and Romulus had stuck by him, surviving long enough to get him to shore. Everything else was a blur to him but he knew that he was alone now. Burring his face in his hands, Ludwig sobbed.

Antonio heard the sobs and hopped out of his parents bed. He crept across the hall into Ludwig's room, "Hello?" The boy sighed when he didn't get a response and went back to get the picture he'd taken from the beach. Gathering his courage, Antonio climbed onto Ludwig's bed and touched his shoulder, "Don't cry. You're safe now."

Ludwig pulled his hands away and stared at Antonio in confusion, "I don't understand you." He was met with the same look of confusion, "Guess you don't understand me either…" The brunette bit his lip before presenting the painting to Ludwig. "Oh! Where did you find that? That was Romulus'"

"It's neat, huh? This dead guy had it. Maybe these are his kids?" Antonio pointed to the angry looking child excitedly, "Hey! Do you know who this one is?"

"That's Lovino," said Ludwig as he wiped his nose on his arm. Remembering what Feli told him, he winced and took his black robe to clean the muck away instead. "He's Feli's big brother."

"L-Lovino?"

"Hey, ja! Can you understand me?"

Antonio cocked his head to the side and shook his head before pointing back to Lovi, "Lovino?"

"Ja and this one is Feliciano. They're brothers."

"Feliciano…"

"Ja but don't get any ideas. Feli said that he's going to marry _me_ when we grow up. Lovi…well you can keep him. I don't really care."

Again Antonio tilted his head in confusion. Sighing he pointed to himself, "Antonio."

It didn't take Ludwig long to understand that the boy was giving him his name. A small smile blossomed on his face as he pointed to himself, "Ludwig."

"Ludwig, huh?" Antonio grinned, "Nice to meet you! I can tell that we're going to be good friends. After all you did save me." He reached over and tried to hug the blonde but Ludwig scurried out of his reach. It didn't bother him though, perhaps it was a cultural thing. Shrugging, Antonio leaned back on his arms and nodded out the window, "I think you're going to love it here, Ludwig. El Dorado is a beautiful city and our chief is _really_ nice. Don't worry about all that talk about sacrifices. Because of you me and my family will be spared from any future reapings."

He noticed Ludwig finally taking in the scenery out his window and his smile grew, "It's amazing, huh? Papa said we can take you to go look around your new home." Antonio patted the boy's shoulder then motioned around him, "Home."

Ludwig didn't say anything to that. Instead he reached over for his push broom and curled in for the night. The next day Tochtli and Antonio showed Ludwig around as they ran errands for Gupta.

Much to the young German's surprise, the people all smiled at him and offered greetings in their language. The gentle tone they used on him helped keep his nerves under control. Why on earth were they so kind? Shaking his head, Ludwig figured it was best this way. In a way, they reminded him of Romulus and Feliciano. What more so intrigued him was the fact that the whole place seemed to be made of gold.

Antonio's father looked much like he did with the exception that he had long black hair that he kept in a ponytail. His kind brown eyes looked down to Ludwig as he motioned to his city, "Our glorious city was built by the divinity of gods who saw fit to bestow the gift of a paradise, peaceful and harmonious, upon us mere mortals below."

Giggling when a large bird plucked Ludwig's hat from his head, Antonio coaxed it back down with bird feed so that his companion could retrieve it, "They made El Dorado the magnificent and golden one thousand years ago."

Ludwig stood on his tip toes in hopes to grab his hat and was suddenly lifted high enough to do so. He glanced over his shoulder and paled when he saw that it was Chief Máximo. The heavyset man was now sporting a brown head band to keep his chocolate colored dreadlocks out of his face. His dark amber eyes glowed cheerfully as he lowered him back down, "But all of this was granted for only one millennium."

The German watched as Chief Máximo patted the bird gently, "I know my legacy is to fulfill my promise to my people who have trusted me to ensure that the Gods will approve of us still. So don't worry little one. No god is willing to the slaying of innocents just to appease them. I've managed to get our illustrious high priest to cut back on the sacrifices."

Antonio whooped in joy, "That's great news, chief!"

"I'm glad you approve. But I hope that you understand, Tochtli, Itzcóatl is expecting the arrival of our creators. Whether that's tomorrow or in a decade from now doesn't matter."

The noir haired man rubbed his arm in thought, "I understand. Don't worry, Chief, everything will be fine."

"For all our sakes, I hope so."

Antonio pulled Ludwig towards the river and pointed excitedly at the baby turtles. Ludwig sighed in exasperation and reminded him that he couldn't understand a word. They would later spend the rest of their childhood learning each other's languages, and Ludwig the ways of El Dorado. He would also later learn what his supposed role as a servant for the gods would entail much to his horror.

~.~

**In Spain Ten Months Later**

"Draw a circle that's the earth, draw a circle that's the earth I am Italian," sang Feliciano happily as he helped Elizabeta bake some cookies. The king had sent out another ship with supplies to those who sailed a few months ago with his grandfather and he was sure they would all come back. Hence the baking.

A knock to the door made Feli squeal in joy and hop off from his stool, "Ve~ They're here! They're here, Lovi! Gilbert, they're back!"

Rodrich huffed, "Calm down, Feli." He patted the boy's head and moved to open the door but instead of being greeted by Romulus and Wolfgang, they were face to face with a messenger.

The news of what became of the ship and her passengers devastated the poor children. Gilbert refused to believe it happened and locked himself in his room. Feliciano, however, took it the hardest. That night, Lovi found him in their shared room staring at the ring their grandfather gave him, "It's not possible, fratello. Tell me this is a nightmare. Tell me that they'll come back like they promised. Please."

Lovi pulled his little brother into his arms, "I can't do that, fratellino…I'm sorry." He let Feli muffle his cries in his clothes and not once complained about how dirty it was. It took a long while for Feli to calm down but when he did, Lovino pulled him away and looked him in the eye, "But I _can_ promise that you and I will never be apart. We're all we have now—"

"What about, G-Gilbert," asked Feli with a hiccup.

The older boy waved the thought away, "Who cares? _You're_ the only one I care about from now on we'll depend on only each other to get by."

"You can't promise me that."

"Damn it, yes I can! You know why? Cause, I won't go anywhere unless you're with me. We'll be together forever! You'll see, Feli. You and me? We'll be the greatest pair in all of Spain! Everyone will know the names Lovino and Feliciano Vargas!" Lovi kissed the ring around his neck, "We're descendants from Sun Gods remember? What could possibly happen?"

* * *

**Hi, guys! It's been a while, huh? Here is the prologue for The Road to El Dorado. I'm sorry it took me a while, I'll admit that I was busy with another project but I'm ready to get the show on the road. Also, Halloween is just around the corner and I was wondering if you guys would like a scary story? I know it's a bit old but I swear I LOVED The Conjuring and I guess its the Hetalian in me but I swear when I saw it, I could only see the Nordics as the Family with England and America as the two that were helping them. I think it would be a fun thing.  
**

**As for this story, I can't help it. I love me my Gerita but rest assured its main focus will be Spamano. As for **Tzekel-Kan**, I went with an OC for Mexico. His name is Aztec that means Obsidian Serpent and Antonio's dad's name is Aztec for Rabbit...oh! Also, Uo is the second month on the ancient calendar so I associated it with February which is Spain's birth month. **

**I think that's all I have to say for now. Here's hoping that I don't screw this up.**

**~Until Next Time**


	2. Destiny, Fate, and Fish!

**23- Lovino Vargas**

**21- Feliciano Vargas**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

~** Spain 15 Years Later **~

Feli stifled a yawn as he stretched. Blinking the sleep away, he rolled out of his futon and stumbled over to his makeshift bookshelf where he kept a box and his microscope. He pulled it down and carefully walked over to his bench near the window.

The Vargas brothers lived in a modest apartment hidden away from the city of Madrid. This was partly because Lovino had insisted on leaving the orphanage when he was fifteen. And of course where Lovi went his little brother was sure to go. Mostly though, it was because the older Italian's prophecy of everyone knowing their name came true.

In as little as a year, Lovino and Feliciano became notorious con men. Their first heist had been simple, Feli pretended that he had broken his leg and Lovino had managed to convince the local healer to help them. While the healer had been preoccupied with his younger brother, Lovi had stolen as much medicine as he could. They dropped some off at Magyar's orphanage and sold the rest. Later, Lovi had bought paint and blank canvases for his brother so that he could recreate some of the more famous paintings and sold them as originals to unsuspecting nobles.

Their favorite con, however, had been the time when they posed as girls and gone into a prep school where they stole the headmaster's prized golden bull horns. That same year they also posed as traveling musicians and where hired by an alchemist as entertainment for his fellow scientists at a convention in his villa. Feli had been enamored by all the ideas they had and the tales they told of a legendary city of gold in the new world. He remembered asking questions to which a young noire haired herbalist was a little too eager to answer.

Much to Lovi's dismay Feli had fallen in love that night. With science. And for that love, his brother often insisted that they to do heists in much more secured places for materials for him to tinker with in attempt to make gold. Of course, he hadn't been able to conjure the precious metal but that hadn't deterred him from making other things.

And that, Lovi found him liking a lot more. Not that he would openly admit it but he did like that Feli had developed a hunger for knowledge. So he accommodated his plans to make sure that Feli would always come back with at least a new book or material to play with.

As the years came and went, the duo was found by Gilbert, who had gone into the military, in Barcelona. Instead of turning them in however, he offered them the attic of his apartment. Lovino hadn't wanted to at first but soon gave into the albino's pleas. Gilbert's logic was that they would be safe because no one would ever suspect that two wanted criminals would be housed by a member of his majesties guard.

Gilbert knocked on their door before letting himself in, "Morning, guys! How did you sleep?" He chuckled softly at Lovi's grumbles and walked up to Feli, "You're up earlier than your brother. Kesesese~ that's a first."

"Don't stand too close, Gil," said Feli as he pulled out small rounded plates, "These are bacteria samples I grew."

At that Gilbert jumped back and wrinkled his nose in disgust, "Why the hell are you growing that shit still? Didn't I tell you to stop?"

"No, it's ok. Look it, this green stuff stopped the bacteria from growing. Oh, this is so exciting!" Feli quickly reached out for his journal and pen before scribbling down notes.

Curious, Gilbert sat aside the tray and peered over Feli's shoulder, "What is it?"

"I have no idea but whatever it is, kept the bacteria from growing."

"Well, where did you get it?"

"Ve, it must've flown in through the window while I was trying to grow this other thing." He pointed to a thick green book, "Could you get me that please? I want to finish this up before the gel starts to melt completely."

From across the room Lovino stirred awake, "Ngh…what's with all the damn noise?"

"What exactly are you doing, Feli," asked Gilbert as he handed the book to his friend.

"Remember that time Lovi and I conned this herbalist? The one who claimed that he had a healing elixer?"

Lovi huffed, "That was the lamest thing ever."

His brother continued as if he hadn't heard him, "Well turns out that he wasn't completely wrong. I borrowed some books from the book store and—I'm going to return them Gilly!—and I read about all these neat things called fungi and microorganisms. Did you know that people think that's what makes people sick?"

"Yeah go figure."

"Well anyway, I read that and this other book on herbal medicine from east and thought well…fungi are kind of like plants, right? So I'm thinking that whatever this green goo is must be a fungi based on it's growing habits."

Gilbert sighed and sat down next to Lovi so that he could eat his breakfast, "That doesn't really explain what you're doing, Feli."

Swallowing a slice of orange, Lovi said, "He's making a salve. That green muck keeps that gross smelling shit from growing which means if you put it on a wound, it could keep that gross smelling shit from growing on you."

"Ew."

"Yup."

Feli pouted as he scraped the goo into a jar filled with premade generic salve. He couldn't help but think how Ludwig wouldn't have thought he was gross. He threw the plates into a bucket of concentrated whiskey and washed his hands before joining his brother and friend. They quietly munched on their breakfast, each lost in their own thoughts.

"I'm leaving today," said Gilbert finally. He looked at both Italians and smiled, "I was picked to go on the voyage to the new world with Cortes. Well, technically I'm not on his ship. I was put under his second in command but –" He stopped talking as soon as he saws Feliciano's lip tremble. Reaching out, he patted his arm, "H-hey, don't cry. It'll be ok."

"You don't know that," whispered the young Italian. He played with the golden ring he still wore around his neck, "Don't go, Gilbert."

"I have to, buddy. Don't worry. Things are different from back then. We've gotten smarter with our navigating and we'll—hey, look at me—we'll be fine."

"Can't we come too, then? I've always wanted to go on an adventure! Think about all the neat things I can find out there. All the different plants and herbs to make medicines!"

"You know you guys can't go anywhere near the militia." Gilbert reached out and patted Lovi's shoulder as well, "Don't worry, I'll be back to bug you guys before you know it!"

Lovi shrugged, "Whatever." His eyes lit up suddenly, "Hey! If you guys are leaving, does that mean that you guys are taking the losers from that lame nautical school with you as the crew?"

"Excuse you," huffed Gilbert as he stood up with the tray and made his way downstairs, "_I_ was one of those losers that went to that lame nautical school, remember?" He stopped half way and looked over his shoulder wryly, "Why? You're not going to do what I think you're going to do are you?"

Putting on his most innocent face, Lovi smiled stood up and stretched showing off his family's seal tattooed onto his hip, "I wasn't aware you had the gift of foresight."

"With you two, one doesn't need it." Gilbert shook his head with a sigh and continued down the stairs so that he could feed Gilbird, "Just, whatever you do, try not to get yourselves into trouble. I won't be here to watch over you."

Feli smiled, "Ve, don't worry, Gill. I promise that Lovi and I won't get into trouble." His smile turned sheepish when Gilbert looked at him with a single raised eyebrow. He nudged at his brother who was pulling on his shirt, "Right, Lovi?"

"Hah? Oh! Yeah, we'll be on our best behavior."

"You better be," said Gilbert. He took out his canary and let him stretch his wings before letting him nestle in his hair, "Well, I'm off. See you two dorks when I get back."

Lovi waited until Gilbert was well down the street before tossing his brother a shirt, "Here, hurry up and get dressed!"

"Ve? But we told—"

"Do you seriously think that we're going to let those sailor geeks leave Spain with their pockets full?" The older Italian dug through his chest, tossing clothes and nick nacks aside until he found what he was looking for. "They love to gamble before setting sail. _You_ know it and _I_ know it. Besides, it's not like they're going to need money in the new world."

"If you say so…"

"Of course I do, idiot. Come one, lets go."

Feli pocketed his salve after tugging on a dark blue shirt and followed after his brother, "But what are we going to do?" He gasped when Lovi jiggled the small leather pouch before smirking, "We'll leave it to the fates to enrich our lives then, shall we?"

"Fates? Fratellino, no one can enrich our lives better than we can. Come on, I have a plan."

* * *

A large crowd had gathered by the docks just as the sun had made its way to noon. They watched as crew members loaded supplies onto the ships that would take Cortes and his men across the Pacific. Gilbert leaned against a water fountain and listened with the rest of the crowd as a large commanding man rode a black stead into the center of the square.

He dipped a silver chalice into the water fountain and raised it to the people, "Today, we sail to conquer the New World. For Spain, for glory, for gold!" The black Andalusian neighed when the crowd cheered at his rider's words. Cortes pulled at the reigns, "Johan, eyes forward."

Gilbert felt his lips twitch at the sight of Cortes struggling with his horse when. He heard Francis snort next to him and grinned, "You ready for an adventure?"

"Of course, mon ami." Francis smirked, "Do you think we'll find anything of value?"

"Who knows," said the shorter man with a shrug. He pushed himself off the fountain and motioned for his friend to follow, "I don't really care but for our crew's sake, I hope so. Cortes is a heartless bastard on his best of days. I'd hate to see him if we have to come back empty handed."

"He's not so bad. I haven't seen him discipline his horse so perhaps he's not all that horrible."

"Which ship are you on?"

"…his."

"Kesesese~ Sucks for you! I'm stuck with his second in command-Mr. Only-Gold-Will-Remove-The-Stick-I-Have-Wedged-In-My-Ass."

"Oh, you mean Lars?"

"Ja, I swear that kid grew up to be a real hard ass."

Francis chuckled, "To be fair you did hit on his sister."

Gilbert grumbled half-heartedly, "That was once and I was only a kid myself. Whatever, come on, let's go get some real food while we still can. The crap we're going to be eating for the next few months is going to be a real freaking nightmare. They're not packing wurst at all!"

"Come, mon ami, it'll go by fast. You'll see."

They walked past a wanted sign for Lovino and Feliciano. Francis shifted his knapsack to his other shoulder as he pulled the sign off, "Are they going to be ok?"

"They should be. I made them promise to stay out of trouble." Lifting a brow, his best friend gave him a look that made him chuckle, "I did the same thing. Well, even if they _do_ get into trouble, I'm sure it won't be something that they won't be able to get themselves out of. Those two are many things but let me tell ya, they're pretty damn resourceful."

In an alley just next to the restaurant Gilbert and Francis walked into, Lovi and Feliciano were playing against a group of sailors that were going to head out with Cortes later that day. Lovi tossed his red dice and called out, "Seven!"

When the dice slowed to a stop on his number, Feli whooped in joy, "All right!"

"Yeah!" The older Italian high-fived his brother before laughing, "That's how we do it, bastardi~" He snatched his dice back up and danced around Feliciano as the latter played on his newly acquired bandolin.

"Tons of gold for you," sang Feliciano as he sashayed his hips to his tune.

The sailors looked to each other in confusion. How the hell were these two bozos beating them?! A dark haired sailor, Bernardo, huffed, "Hey."

But the Vargas brothers were too far into their celebration to pay him any mind. Lovi flicked his hips to the side and made Feliciano lose his balance momentarily before the younger retaliated with a side kick to the older one's rear, "Tons of gold for me~"

"Hey!"

"Tons of gold for we," sang both at the same time before finally giving into Bernardo's insistent calls.

"One more roll," demanded the sailor. His friends around them glowered at the Italian duo who exchanged glances before bursting into a fit of laughter. "What's so funny?"

Lovino spoke through his giggles, "Boy, are you stupid. You're broke! What the hell are you going to bet with?"

The sailors dug into their pockets in hopes to find a coin or anything else they could spare for their comrade. Bernardo raised a hand to halt their rummaging before smirking and reaching into his pocket, "You bet your sweet ass I do." He pulled out a scroll and unrolled it, "I've got this!"

"Psh, what's that? A map?"

"Si. It's a map to the wonders of the new world."

"What the hell do I want that for?"

But at the mention of the new world, Feli's eyes lit up. He tugged his brother forward and took the map from Bernado, "Wait a minute now, let's take a look." With another hard pull, he managed to bring Lovi closer.

Groaning, Lovi glanced over the map, "Excuse us, for one moment, please." He watched as his brother's eyes flitted around the details, a finger pad running along the intricate designs painted onto the parchment.

Feli scraped a flake of paint and tasted it before grinning, "Lovi, I want this!"

"What the hell for?"

"It's real, fratello. Remember that job we did for the alchemist? What that guy said about El Dorado? And how he said if anyone could find it, it would be me?"

"That asshat only said that because he wanted to get in your pants." Lovi's face darkened, "And if memory serves me correctly, he did."

Waving the thought away, Feli shook his head, "No, he didn't. I just took him to his bed room and gave him warm milk with mint and sleeping powder. Then I took his money and microscope but that's beside the point. Fratello, this could be our destiny! Our fate! "

"Feli, if I believed in fate I wouldn't be playing with loaded dice," hissed Lovino. He shook his head, "How the hell would we even get there?"

"Details!"

"I'm sorry but I'm not going to risk our earnings on this stupid thing."

"B-but…" Lips drooping down in a pout, Feli widened his eyes and made his lower lip tremble, sniffling as if where—

"Don't do that!" Lovi glanced away but it was as if Feli's whining was forcing him to look back, "Stop with the faces, fratello, my answer is still _no_." The younger Italian batted his eye lashes and smiled before pawing at his brother's shoulder in a way that he knew that would get him to bend. They yelped when Bernardo suddenly ripped the map from their hands.

"So," said the Spaniard, "what do you say? My map against your cash."

The Italian brothers exchanged glances, Feli a hopeful one while Lovi simply rolled his eyes with a sigh. He pulled out his dice again, "Fine, _Bernard_. You're on!" He ran his tongue along his lip in mock concentration as he rolled the small red cubes in his hands.

Bernardo reached out and stopped Lovi's hands, "_Not_ with those." He snapped his fingers and his fellow sailor pulled out a leather pouch with blue marbled cubes, "This time we'll use my dice. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Uh…n-no, of course not." Lovino pocketed his dice again and shot a glare over his shoulder to Feli, mouthing, "_I'm going to kill you."_

Feli smiled sheepishly, _"_Ve~" Clearing his throat he started to play on his mandolin again to rev up the suspense. He pranced over to a couple of girls and winked playfully rousing giggles from the group who were already well aware of how flirty the Italian could be.

The older Vargas went up to another cluster and offered them the dice, "Will you do me the honors, bella?" When the leader of the clique turned her nose up at him, Lovi's grin fell. Clicking his tongue, he blew on them for luck and shot another glare at his brother, "Stop that!" The dice clicked softly as he rolled them in between his palms once more, "Alright, show…me…seven!"

As soon as the dice leapt from his hands, Lovi covered his eyes so that he wouldn't have to see the outcome. He would have to come up with a new scam to get money for their months without Gilbert. The albino had said that he had left some money in the emergency jar but Lovi refused to touch it. It was bad enough they were living with the guy.

Beside him Feli watched anxiously as the dice bounced on the cobbled ground, rolling teasingly between faces until one of them landed on a three. The sailors held their breath as the last one seemed to teeter between a four and another three until it finally settled and four little white dots signified that the Vargas siblings had won yet again.

Lovi peeked through his fingers, "S-seven?"

"All right," cried Feli as he dove in for the map. He pocketed it with smirk, "Ve, grazie, bello." He played his bandolin merrily as his brother dove in for the coins

"Well, there you have it, bastardi," cooed Lovi through his laughter. He collected all the coins into a bag, "It was such a pleasure doing business with you. Don't worry; I hear you don't need gold where you're going."

Bernardo glared as he pocketed the money, his glare turning almost murderous when Lovi's red dice rolled out of his shirt and landed on seven. Before the Italian could get them, the sailor picked them up and threw them on the floor, his comrades gasping when they landed on seven again. He repeated the action over and over again before growling, "I knew it. Your dice are loaded!"

"Merde," cursed Lovi under his breath, the clogs in his mind rolling as he worked to come up with a plan. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw more people gather around to see what the ruckus was about. He reached out and plucked the instrument from his brother's hands, "How could you? I thought we were going to do things differently from now on!"

Feli cocked his head in confusion, "Ve? What did I do?"

"Don't be coy, bastard! You know what you did. You gave me loaded dice!"

He winked at his brother and Feliciano instantly knew what game they were going to play. Tossing the instrument aside, he pushed his brother out of the alley, "You dare blame me? It was your idea!"

Lovi landed into the buff chest piece of a local guard. Tensing at the stern expression, the elder Vargas pushed himself away and pointed at Feli, "He gave me loaded dice! Guard, arrest him."

"Me? _He_ was the one who was cheating. Arrest _him_! He tricked these sailors and took their money."

Scoffing, Lovi pushed Feli back, "Oh, so _I'm_ the thief? Take a good look in the mirror, fratellino."

Feli shrugged his brother's hand off his arm and reached out to pull the guard's sword loose from its sheath, "Give the money back, fratello, or I'll be forced to use this. En garde!"

"En garde yourself. I will give you the honor of a quick and painless death." Lovi reached blindly behind him and griped at a handle, tugging triumphantly only for his smirk to fall at the sight of what he got. Clearing his throat, Lovino put the mall dagger back, "But not with that."

His brother chuckled and tossed him another sword, "I prefer to fight fairly, Lovi." He rushed forward and parried with Lovi's blade, "Well, any last words, fratellone?"

"I will cut you to ribbons, fool!"

Pushing himself off, Feli ran edge of his sward along Lovi's, "Such mediocrity, Lovi."

"Enough! Let your sword do the talking." Lovino launched himself in offensive lashing while Feli easily defended his blows.

"I will, fratello and it will be loquacious to a fault!"

"Careful, Feli. What did I tell you about using big words?"

"Not to because your tiny brain can't handle it?"

"Oh, you fucker!" Grinning, Lovi chased his brother around the small courtyard, "You stupid, mincing, fencing, ass! You fight like Elizabeta!"

"I fought Elizabeta _and_ I beat her!"

"Sure you don't mean Roderich?"

A larger crowd started to form around the two arguing Italians, hungry for a fight to break out. Curious patrons from the restaurant glanced over from their meals, Gilbert and Francis being two of them. The albino widened his eyes before face palming, "Those two, I swear."

"Honhonhon," chuckled Francis, "I guess fighting each other must be one of their resourceful tactics, huh?"

"What are you—oi!" Gilbert and his bird jumped out of the chair when the two squabbling brothers jumped onto his table with blades swinging at each other. He watched as they climbed up a stack of cargo boxes and onto the roof.

"You're an ass, Feliciano," shouted Lovino without heat, his eyes shining brightly in the setting sun and the corners of his mouth lifted.

Feli grinned back, "Well, I learned it from the best, Lovino." He dug his sword into the red tile on the roof to loosen them.

As Lovi fell on his back, he deflected his brother's attacks the best he could. He hissed under his breath, "Watch the curl, you idiot. The curl!"

"Oops," whispered Feli back, "Mi dispiace, Lovi." With a flick of the wrist, he disarmed his brother and pointed his sword to his neck. The crowd shouted at the young auburn haired man to kill his opponent but Feli simply helped his brother up and smiled cheerfully down at them, "Signiori e Signire, we've decided it's a draw."

Lovi took the swords and tossed them back down, "Grazie for coming. You've all been great," he said as he pulled out several more pouches of gold he managed to pickpocket while sparring with his brother. Shaking them a few times to annoy the crowd he let Feli pocket them before waving, "See you fuckers soon!"

"Ve~ Ciao!" The Vargas brothers jumped off the roof and landed in a fit of giggles when they heard the crowd howl curses at them on the other side. Feli leaned back on his arms and smiled at Lovi, "That was great, fratello!"

"Yeah, it was alright, wasn't it?" Lovi reached over to ruffle his brother's hair, freezing when he felt hot breath slap the back of his neck followed by a snort. He shuffled closer to his brother as slowly as he could, "Fuck me, this is bad." Just a foot away from them was a full grown bull. It's massive horns gleamed dangerously in the setting sun and it's golden eyes glimmered threateningly.

"W-we probably should've kept our swords."

"Ya think?"

"What do we do?"

The bull snorted again, tail flicking back and forth in irritation at having his lunch disturbed. Lovi tried not to look at it in the eye, "Uh, yeah, ok. I've got a plan."

"What is it?"

"You pet him."

Feli nodded and reached out slowly, "Right, and?"

"And I'll… run!" Lovi pushed himself up and leapt over his brother.

The bull looked from him to Feli and back again before digging at the dirt in preparation to charge. Feli yelped and ran after his brother, "No fair, Lovi! Wait for me!"

Lovi bent forward to let Feli climb up his back and over the gate, reaching up after him so that he could pull him up as well. They were just over the edge when the bull crashed with the wooden gate. The older Italian gripped his brother tightly and pulled him back down, "Run, Feli! Come on."

They raced down the coble stoned alley towards the courtyard hand in hand so to not lose each other. Bernardo and his fellow sailors came around the corner with scowls on their faces. The dark haired Spaniard caught sight of the brothers, "There they are, boys. Get 'em!"

"Oh, boy." Lovi spun around and tugged Feli into smaller alley to their left.

The bull dug its feet into the ground as the group of sailors nearly collided with him. He snorted at them, watching with unamused eyes as they quickly turned around and ran in the opposite direction. Gilbert and Francis walked past them and shook their heads before making their way to the docks. The bull snorted again and followed after the Italians instead.

"I-is he still after us, fratellone," gasped Feliciano.

"I aint looking! Shut up and keep run—oh _come_ _on_!"

A group of guards blocked them off and drew their swords out, "Halt, in the name of the king!"

"Yeah, no. Fratello, engage evasive maneuver number twenty-three," grunted Lovino before ducking through a kitchen door to his left.

"Okie dokie." Feli did the same into his right, winking at the girl stirring at a pot. Outside he could hear the guards crying out in fear and the sound of metal clashing followed by the bellow of an angry bull. Grinning, the Italian ran out through the front door at the same time Lovi rushed out of the home he'd had entered.

"I got that girl's pigeon info."

"I got some herbs~"

"Jesus, Feli, seriously?"

"Ve~"

Shaking his head, he pointed to a low roof and Feli leapt onto it. Together the grabbed onto a rope being used to hang laundry and jumped, using the momentum to get to higher ground. Arrows narrowly missed them as more guards attempted to bring them down. Feli clutched his arm with a whimper, "They got me, Lovi."

"What? Let me see." The older Italian pulled up his brother's sleeve and tsked before patting it, "You're ok. It's only a scratch. Now come on!" He pushed his brother forward at the sound of the guards approaching.

They ran to the edge of the roof and cursed. Behind them the guards were getting closer. Feli looked below them in hopes to find something soft to land in but only saw twin barrels filled to the brim with water. Biting his lip he nodded to myself, "I bet we can make that."

"Uh…" Lovi shook his head, "I'll give you that girl's pigeon info if we don't."

"Ok!" Feli grinned and jumped, pulling his brother with him. To Lovi's dismay, they did in fact make it safely into the barrels. Cursing his luck, he balled up the piece of parchment and threw it into his brother's barrel before closing it with a lid. He tossed his lid over his own barrel just as the guards looked over the roof.

The water inside barrel taste so sweet to Feli so he gulped as much as he could. Next to him he could hear his brother gag. Smacking his lips, he asked, "You ok?"

"There's fucking fish in this damn barrel…"

"Really? Mine is really yummy." Feli dipped his face back into the water and blew bubbles, "Ve, I like it, when we get out we should take one back to the apartment."

Lovi was about to roll his eyes but stopped himself knowing that it wouldn't be worth the effort. He'd just say yes like always. Sighing, he folded his legs up and tried not to breath so deeply let alone speak more than he had to less the disgusting flavored water make its way into his mouth. He leaned his head back and wondered if the guards had left yet. Perhaps they did.

"Oi, Feli, are you—" Whatever Lovi was about to ask was cut short by a mouth full of fish tasting water. He sputtered in disgust but more kept splashing onto his face. It wasn't until he heard the panicked whimpers of his brother that he realized that his barrel wasn't the only one that was causing a shift in the water.

"Lovi, what's happening?!"

"I don't—Oof!" They two brothers grunted as they felt the impact of their barrels landing on something hard, groaning in displeasure as their bodies were forced to tumble inside the small cramp place while the sailors rolled their barrels further onto the ship. When the movement stopped, Feli and Lovi pushed out the cork and took a deep breath of fresh air. Lovi gulped down the air before peeking out, "Ok, I think if we move quickly, we can jump out and make a run for the deck without anyone noticing."

"Ok, ok, good. That sounds good, fratello."

"On the count of three. Ready?"

"Ready."

"Ok. One-two-three!" Bernardo and Gilbert placed a heavy chest on top of the barrels just as the brothers tried to lift their lids up. The albino frowned at the barrels before his companion tugged on his sleeve so that he would follow. He dismissed the voices and went back down to get the last of their supplies.

The ships groaned as it sat sail, following after Cortes'. Gilbert waved goodbye to Elizabeta and Roderich who had come out to see him off, admittedly, a little saddened that his housemates hadn't shown up. He gently ran a gloved hand down Gilbird's feathery spine, "Those two…I hope they don't get themselves into too much trouble while I'm gone." Smiling, he turned on his heal to put his things away below deck before starting his chores.

Hours later, just as the crew was beginning to feel the summer chill of night, Gilbert and Bernardo moved the heavy chest from the barrels to take it below deck. Lovi sighed tiredly and whispered to his brother, "On three, fratellino."

"No," said Feliciano grumpily, "I'm tired and sleepy. We've been doing this for hours."

"Let's just try. On three, ok?"

"Ve…"

"One."

"…two."

"Three," they cried as they pushed on their aching legs, popping out of their barrels with happy grins that they were finally able to get out. They weren't met with the same expressions, however. The crew regarded them indifferently until they realized that they were the same Italian duo that cheated them out of their money.

Exchanging dark smirks, a group of sailors cracked their knuckles as the approached the brothers, making them cower back to the safety of their barrels. Before they knew it, Lovino and Feli were roughly pulled back out and clasped in heavy shackles before their pockets were searched for the sacks of gold. By the time Bernardo and Gilbert had made their way back onto the deck, Lovi and Feli both sported bruised faces. Gilbert forced himself not to react despite the angry twist in his belly, "What the hell is going on here!"

Bernardo snorted and took a sack of gold from a fellow sailor, "Thieves from the looks of it."

"Why are they bleeding?"

"Sir," said one of the sailors, "he bit us, sir. So we retaliated."

"I bit you," hissed Lovino as he tried to kick the one holding him up, "because you tried to take our rings!"

Feli struggled as well, "Those are ours! Our grandfather gave them to us!" He gasped when a sailor reached into his pants pocket and withdrew his salve, "Put that back!"

The sailor lifted the jar to his comrades in silent question. They shrugged in response so he took aim to toss it over board but Gilbert held him back, "Don't." He turned back to the younger men and glared, "You _don't_ take disciplinary actions without the consent of a superior officer. Seeing as _I_ am your superior officer, I order you to follow protocol."

Bernardo jerked his head, "Your heard the man. Let's take them to the Lieutenant Commander." He ushered the duo towards a room glowing with a soft golden light. Gilbert followed behind them and sent a silent prayer to anyone who would listen to help him and his friends through what was about to happen. He walked around the group, schooling his face into a stoic state before whispering something into his commanding officer's ear. Standing silently next to him, he watched as Feli and Lovino stared up at the imposing blonde.

"Lars," whispered Feli. He could hardly believe how much the kid who used to live down the street from Elizabeta's had grown. He towered well over most of the crew present and his uniform stretched over defined muscles. His was hair styled so to keep it away from his cold green eyes as he looked at them coldly. Maybe he would remember that Elizabeta would set up play dates so that they could play with each other...Maybe he would remember the time when Emma had said that Lovi and him made an adorable pair. Maybe he wouldn't be as hash as Cortes…

"My crew was as carefully chosen as the disciples of Christ," said Lars lowly. He lowered himself to meet their eyes, "And I will not tolerate stow aways." Standing back up, he crossed his arms over his chest, "You will be flogged and when we pull into Cuba to resupply, god willing, you will be flogged some more. And then you'll be enslaved in the sugar plantations for the rest of your miserable lives." Lars curled his lip in disgust, "I don't care who flogs them just take them to the brig when you're done."

…or not.

Feli tried to find a bright side to the situation he and his brother found themselves in. well, he'd never been to Cuba before so there was that. Grinning, he looked at Lovi, "Alright! We're going to Cuba, fratello!"

Lovi twisted around to look at his brother incredulously before being forced back up. As oldest, he was the first to be stripped from his shirt and tied to the whipping post in the brig.

Gilbert's jaw was tight as he watched the crew fight amongst themselves to see who got to whip the foul tempered Italian and his cute brother. He opened his mouth to say something but Lars cut him off, "On second thought, Gilbert, why don't _you_ do it." He handed the albino a whip and gave him a meaningful look before retreating to his cabin for the night. Gilbert watched him go with gratitude.

"Ok," he said as he approached Lovino, "the rest of you get back to your chores." Only a couple of sailors actually had chores to do so the rest stayed. If they couldn't do the deed they could at least watch. Sighing, Gilbert pressed against Lovi in pretense of tightening the rope around his wrists. He whispered, "Lars did us a favor in letting me do this. I'm going to hit you hard so that they others won't be ordered to hit your harder." He took a moment before wrinkling his nose, "No offense but you reek of fish."

Lovi gave a stiff nod, "I know. Let's just get this damn thing over with." He felt Gilbert step back and braced himself for the first whip.

* * *

**Bernardo: *gasp* I would never treat Feli and Lovi like that! Oh sweet merciful sun, my brother is going to kill me!**

**Me: Yup**

**Bernardo: *cries* Don't say that so nonchalantly!**

**Lol for those of you who don't know, Bernardo is my OC and older cousin of Feli and Lovino. He's actually a quadruplet with two identical brothers and one that came out with blonde hair. He's a real sweet heart but for the sake of this fic he's a bit of a butt. Fun fact: inspiration for those four came from my cats who are in fact quadruplets. Three are black and came out black and white, he kind of looks like he's wearing a tux. **

**Eh! Poor Feli and Lovi, but Gilbert is right. Lars did them a favor I think. Hate to imagine what the sailors would've done if they'd been the ones allowed to punish our two Italians. Thanks to everyone who has put this story to their favorites and follow lists =3 I'm going to try and be quick with the updates but I really want to get The Conjuring finished by Halloween. Hopefully this pace is good, yeah?  
**

**Feli being interested in Alchemy/medicine is something that came to me when I was trying to figure out if I should put Matthew in here too. I'm not but only because I'm going to do something awesome with him in the end. Feli's medicine actually Penicillin but he has no idea. lol Something is going to have to prevent them from getting sick over in the new world right? **

**Ps-has anyone seen the Hetalia updates? So gosh darn cute! Germany and Italy are on a "date" with Feli showing Ludwig around Italy. He complimented a girl and Germany got jealous X3**

**~Until Next Time**

**VivaAmerica: I'm sorry T_T Although I am happy that you were excited to see this story uploaded :3 lol, your Mexico sounds awesome! I like how she related to America and Canada! Well, half related but still. North American sibs for the win! Also I don't mind long reviews (your BATB one) as a matter fact I love them **｡◕ ‿ ◕｡**I also don't mind advertisement lol, I'm honored actually :)**

**Fallen heavens: hehe ^_^ Thanks!**

**mimi-chan and aliling-chan: I will try my best to update frequently. I'm actually working on the second chapter as we speak :) I'm sorry about the names. I'll see what I can do ^_^ Was just the high priest's name or all of them? **

**guest: thank you!**

**QuinnStormTwilight: Than you! I can't wait to hear more from you (****✿◠‿◠)**

**pastaaddict: ooh! I'm glad to hear that! Don't worry, they'll see each other again real soon. I'm worried about Lud too but maybe a certain god will save him from a bad fate. :D Also, *blush and sweats nervously* I-I have no idea what you're talking about...****lol (****≧ω≦)**

**HeroinOfDarkness: Yay! I'm glad to hear that (**◕‿◕✿**) I actually had trouble with this chapter. I hope it came out alright. As for The conjuring, thenext chapter is already brewing. I will be sure to check out your Russia poem :)**

**zoewinter1: oh no worries! I understand perfectly. Bless you for taking that class. I remember taking it in high school and it was a nightmare, college even more so. I'm glad you made it though (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ. I'll see you soon!**


	3. The Trail That We Blaze

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

The Vargas brothers were shivering in pain in their cells and it was killing Gilbert knowing that their pain was caused by his hand. He forced his gaze back to his book to reread the same page he'd been looking at for the past hour now in hopes to numb his guilt. Biting his lip, he glanced back over to their cell and saw Lovi drag himself over to Feli and hold his hand. Feli gave a soft _ve_ in response.

"Sir, I'm going to head to the sleeping quarters," said Bernardo as he stood up and stretched. He looked over at the siblings expressionlessly, "Will you be fine down here alone or should I wake someone up to take my place?"

There _was_ a god. Gilbert sat straighter and shook his head, "Nein. I'll be fine on my own. You're dismissed." He waited until he heard the click of the door shutting before reaching for his assigned medical box and some dinner he managed to hide away.

Lovi and Feli tried to sit up when they heard their cell door open. The younger of two smiled at the albino, "Ve, ciao, Gilbert."

"What were you two thinking sneaking onto one of Cortes' ships," asked Gilbert as he peeled off their shirts. Angry red lashings were swelling but at least most of the bleeding had stopped. He took some water and a clean rag, "Here let me clean this up for you two."

"Do Feli first," ordered Lovino. He squeezed his brother's hand, "Don't worry, it won't hurt."

Feliciano was silent before asking, "Gilbert, do you have any alcohol?"

Without deterring from his work, Gilbert said, "I think Lars has a bottle of rum and Francis and I bought a bottle of whiskey but it's in my cabin… Why?"

"That would disinfect us better than water. If this gets infected, I don't think we'll survive the trip."

Lovino huffed, "The idiot's worried that we'll die on here like the possibility of us dying from getting flogged again in Cuba isn't higher than that. Truth be told, if you have booze, I'd rather be drunk than having to deal with thoughts about what's going to happen to us once we make port."

"You two wouldn't be in this situation if you guys just stayed put like I told you to," hissed Gilbert. He finished wiping away Feli's wounds and got a fresh cloth for Lovi's, "Besides, it's a long trip. Lars could always change his mind."

"I doubt it."

"Don't make assumptions about me you little shit," said a deep voice through the bars. The trio inside jumped, all three startled by Lars' sudden appearance. Lars leaned against the cell door with a bored expression, his bottle of liquor hung off his belt loop and he was shifting Feliciano's jar of salve between his hands. When no one dared breathe a word, Lars sighed, "You three are still the biggest idiots I've ever met."

Gilbert stayed crouched, "S-sir, I was just—"

"Drop the act, Beilschmidt. I'm not here to discipline you." He handed both the bottle and salve to the albino officer, "Do what you must and be discrete. I just hope that you know that whatever food we give them is coming out of your rations." Lars glanced at the two Italians and rose an eyebrow, "I was serious about what I said tonight. I'm not going to risk my head or position as Cortes' second in command just because we played together as children."

He stepped back out, pausing only to say, "But, if you two are as good as you say you are, I'm sure getting out this cell won't be any trouble. There isn't much I can do if prisoners decided to abandon ship on their own. And as for you, Gilbert, don't be so obvious; I can't have my men thinking I'm going soft."

Lovino scoffed and muttered, "No one's going to think that." His brother gasped and nudged him. "What? It's true. If he was really a good guy, he would just let us go."

"Go where," asked Gilbert as he saturated another cloth with the liquor. He winced as Feli cried out when he pressed it to his wounds, "Sorry, Feli. Anyway, he's right. We can't just let you go. It's not going to look good to the other men and if Cortes hears about it, he'll have our heads."

"What are we supposed to do then? Heal and wait till we get to Cuba? Then what? Work on the damn plantations? Hell no!"

Feli reached out for the salve and checked it, "You worry too much, fratellone. I'm sure we'll be just fine." He pulled out Gilbert's jar of salve, "Can I have this? If I scoop half of mine in here, then it can ferment and we'll have more."

"I don't want to put that shit on me, Feli."

"Please, Lovi. It'll be good for you."

"You don't know that."

"Then consider it a test. If it works we'll be good as new and if it doesn't then…well, we'll be fine. Maybe."

Gilbert looked between the two and gave Feli his jar along with a plate of dinner, "This is all I can do for now. You guys can keep the medical box. I'll just have to be careful or just bum off Francis if I need something." He stood up and brushed his pants off, "I can't tend to you guys all the time so try and be good." Smiling at his two friends, Gilbert locked the door to their cell, "Don't worry, guys. I'm sure you'll figure a way out in no time."

Feli smiled back and wrapped bandages around Lovi's torso, "My big brother is a genius! He'll come up with a plan to get us back to Spain, won't you, Lovi?" Lovino grunted and rolled over in his cot, the cogs in his mind already reeling.

* * *

**Six Weeks Later**

Wounds nothing but fading scratches, Feli was napping in his hay. Lovino had refused to use the salve at first but after a few days, he'd come down with a fever and Feli had no choice but to force him down while he slathered it on his back. The fever had gone down rather quickly afterwards and Gilbert had requested the remains of the jar so that he could make more so that Francis could have it. Lovino made a speedy recovery and, ever since then, had spent every waking moment plotting their escape.

And that's where he was now. Plotting their escape after exactly forty-two days. Forty-two, long, exhausting, near maddening, days. A few days ago, the ship had reached a complete stop and for an agonizing hour, the Vargas brothers had freaked out thinking that they'd finally arrived at Cuba. To their relief, it had simply been a pause in their voyage because Cortes wanted to send his horse over to Lars' ship. Apparently, Johan had been a handful and he'd had enough of his rowdy behavior. Francis had also taken that moment to visit his friend and had hoped to stay but Lars shooed him off.

Needless to say, after the whole ordeal, Lovi had doubled his efforts. The ship was moving at a steady pace, mist from waves occasionally drizzled over them. Lovi pounded his head against the wooden post in their cell, ignoring the hushed gasp beside him.

Feli picked up the apple one of the sailors must've accidentally dropped on him and smiled. Things were looking up. Glancing over to his brother, he crawled closer, "Ve, Lovi? How's— how is the escape plan coming?"

Pausing, Lovi stared at the tiny cracks in the wood, "I think—yeah, I'm getting something!" Turning around to face his brother, he frowned as he recalibrated the details and went back to smacking his head on the post. After a few more smacks, he grinned, "Ok, I've got it!" The Italian tugged his brother closer and dragged over their plate and saucer of rations, "In the dead of night, You and I will—we'll grab some provisions and—uh—hijack one of those long boats and then we row back to Spain there's no tomorrow!"

The younger Vargas looked at the mess his brother made before hesitantly asking, "Back to Spain, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"In a row boat?"

"You got it."

Feli gave Lovi a look, "Great, sensational. A-and that's your plan then, is it?"

A near crazed grin spread across Lovi's face, "That's pretty much it."

Not one for doubting his brother's genius mind, Feli grinned back, "Well, I like it~ So, how do we get on deck?"

Lovi stared blankly ahead, his mouth parting and closing a few time. Taking another tin, he took a deep breath, "In the dead of night, you and I will grab some provisions, hijack one of those long boats and—"

Feli groaned, "Great…"

"Wa—ok, well what's _your_ idea smart guy!"

"Wh-what do you mea—why are you asking _me_ that? You're the one with the plans." He shook his head in exasperation when his brother huffed and flopped onto the floor next to him. Johan neighed above them and Feli was suddenly struck with inspiration. Looking to the apple in his hand then up at the gated opening, he smacked his brother, "Actually, I do, fratello."

"You do what?"

"I have an idea, silly." Feliciano stood up and nudged his brother with his foot, "Come on, give me a boost." Grunting, Lovi wrapped his arms around his brother's legs and lifted him up. Feli peeked to make sure the coast was clear before sticking his hand through one of the squares. He whispered as loudly as he could, "Pst, Johan!"

"Oh my god."

Feli ignored his brother and continued to coax the horse closer to the gate, "Johan, lookie. I have a nice juicy apple for you~" Intrigued and hungry from his lowered rations, Johan crept closer to the apple. The young Italian grinned, "You can have it but you have to do a trick for me first. All you have to do is find a pry bar. That's a long piece of iron with a hooky thing in the end." The horse snorted and eyed the fruit hungrily before going to search for whatever it was Feli wanted.

"Feli, you're talking to a _horse_," muttered Lovino grumpily, not too pleased that his brother's rear was so close to his face nor the fact that he was assisting with such a ridiculous plan.

"Shush," hissed Feliciano. He turned back to the opening, "Yes, that's right, Johan, find the pry bar~"

"_Yes, find the pry bar_," mocked the older Vargas. Rolling his eyes, he pressed his forehead against Feli's lower back to keep from crying out in frustration, "He can't _understand_ pry bar! He's a dumb horse, there's no way—" A soft clink cut Lovino's words and the two brothers glanced down to see what had dropped into their cell. Annoyed by Feli's soft giggles and Johan's neighs, Lovi lowered his brother to pick up the keys, "Well, it's _not_ a pry bar."

"Ve~"

That night when Gilbert came in to give them their meal, he knew that they've finally figured something out. It was good and all but the young German wasn't sure how he felt about it. On one hand he was happy that they wouldn't be prisoners but on the other, how would they survive out in sea all on their own? Without a second thought, he went back to the barracks and dug through some of his smaller subordinate's clothes until he found something for his friends to wear.

"Don't tell me what you're going to do," murmured Gilbert as he handed them a change of clothes and their rings, "just…just promise me I'll see you again."

Lovi gladly changed into the red peasant shirt and loose brown trousers while Feli slipped on his blue and a small vest, "Yeah, yeah—oi!" Light amber eyes glared into red before softening. He patted Gilbert's hand awkwardly, "You'll see us again, someday. Don't worry."

"Ve~" Feli hugged Gilbert through the bars, "Promise to find something nice to bring back for us when you come back."

"God speed, mein bruders," said Gilbert as he hugged them both and went to bed.

A few hours later, when the Vargas brothers were sure that the ship was fast asleep, they climbed out of their cell. Lovino immediately went to secure their provisions and boat while Feli snuck the keys back into the barracks. Johan approached him as soon as he came back onto deck, nudging him earnestly. Feli patted him, "Thank you so much for helping us, bello. I wish I could take you with us, you're so smart and your eyes remind me of someone very dear to my heart."

Double checking that they had enough for the trip back, Lovi glared over his shoulder, "Stupid, get over here and help me. And for fucks sake, he a ruthless war horse not a poodle. Let's go before he licks you to death."

Feli sighed and patted Johan once more, "Ciao." He hopped over the rail and into the boat, taking hold of the rope to help lower them down into the water. Johan neighed in exasperation and glanced over the rail, snorting loudly. Feli cringed, "Shh, please be quiet."

"The hell is wrong with him," hissed Lovino.

"Oh! He wants his apple." Feeling rather silly for forgetting, Feli pulled the apple from his pocket and gave it to his brother.

"Well, give it to him before he wakes up to whole ship!" Taking the apple, Lovi tossed it to Johan, "Here, fetch!"

The apple flew over Johan's head, bouncing off the captain's telescope, towards the sail and off the mast until it fell back over board. The two Vargas were slowly lowering themselves when they heard galloping. Exchanging glances, it can safely be assumed that neither Lovino nor Feliciano had expected for said galloping to be followed by neighs and a heavy splash.

"Oh no," cried Feliciano, "Johan!"

"No, wait! Feli, don't!"

But Feliciano didn't listen to his brother. He was deaf to everything but the black horse's desperate cries. Letting go of the rope, he dove into the freezing water and swam towards Johan, "Hang on, old boy! Hang on, help is coming!"

"Feliciano! Oh, fuck," gasped Lovi as he lost control of the rope and the boat fell into the water. He quickly picked up the paddles and rowed towards them both, "You idiot! Have you lost your mind?!" An ominous shadow loomed over their small boat and Lovino paled, "Holy shit!"

They had inadvertently placed their boat right on the path where the two ships trailing after Lars' were on. The first brushed too close to the row boat, making a wave big enough to send it toppling over. The two brothers gasped for air under their overturned boat, Johan's large head popping out for a gasp of his own. Stressed and beyond terrified, the horse frantically kicked his powerful legs.

"F-fratello," said Lovino as he quickly came up with a solution, "loop the rope under the horse!"

"Gotcha." Feli took ahold of Johan's rope and swam under the boat before climbing onto the belly of the boat. He reached out to help his brother up as well, "Now what?"

"On the count of three we pull!"

"What?"

The fourth ship was making its way down the path, its monstrous size already making waves. Lovi's calculations were quickly recalibrated, "Three! Pull, Feli, Pull!" Taking advantage of the waves, the two brothers leaned backwards and tugged with all their might, allowing the boat to flip right side up and scooping Johan with it.

Two heads popped the water along with a lone crate of supplies. Feli giggled in triumph, "It worked, Lovi! It worked!" They heaved themselves back into the boat and Feliciano hugged his brother tightly, "You're so amazing~"

"Yeah, yeah," huffed Lovi, patting Feli on the head, "Did any of the supplies make it?"

Glancing behind him, Feli tensed, "Uh, yes and no."

Not liking the sound of that Lovi sat up, "Oh for fuck's sake!" True, the most of their supplies had been managed to stay inside the boat but Johan, in his diet induced hunger, was already munching happily on it. Lovino rubbed his face in annoyance.

"Look at the positive side, Fratello," chirped Feli happily, "At least things can't get—" At that moment a crack of lightening lit the sky followed swiftly by thunder and rain.

Lovino clawed his face as he brought his hands down, "I-I'm sorry, were you going to say worse?"

Feli had the good sense to lie, "No."

"No? Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." Biting his lip shyly, Feli pulled out a flask of rum and emptied it in favor to fill it with rain water.

"At least we're in a row boat," muttered Lovino as he did the same with his bottle and any other container that was now useless.

Feli's grin returned, "Ve, we're in a row boat! Exactly, nothing escapes you, fratellone~" Johan decided that perhaps it was best if he didn't alert his two companions of the pod of sharks following after them and continued to munch on their food.

~.~

Why Lovino thought it was smart to escape the safety of a powerful ship was beyond him. Two days into sea and they had already encountered one of the things he feared they would, a storm. The two Italians had paddled with all their might as they battled the ocean's fierce waves. And just when things seemed in their ill favor, it only got worse.

A few days after the storm, their supplies had truly reached the end save for the water. Lovino had suggested they eat Johan but Feli refused much to the horse's relief. He doubted he tasted good anyway but before Lovi could insist, a sickly seagull landed on one of their oars. Licking their lips, the brothers moved slowly as to not startle the bird but, against all astronomical odds, a shark reached up and claimed it as its own, leaving the three to sob in despair.

When their water finally did give out, it wasn't long until the heat became too much for the two brothers. Bodies became numb as did their cognitive thinking and they soon went on auto pilot, rowing senselessly. Johan himself was beginning to get dizzy with all the spinning they were doing and there was still no sign of land. Nauseous, starving and parched, Johan rested his dark head over on the edge and closed his eyes.

Lovino and Feli eventually came to their senses and stopped paddling all together, both too tired to keep going. They leaned against each other and allowed the current to take them to their doom, their only comfort being that at least they would be dying free men instead of slaves on some sugar plantation. Feli played with his ring and absentmindedly stroked Johan's black mane, "Lovi? Did you ever imagine it would end like this?"

"The horse is a surprise," rasped Lovi as followed his brother's example and tied his shirt over his head to keep it from overheating. Leaning back against Feli's sticky back, he smiled at Johan's glare and Feli's slight giggle.

"Any regrets?"

"Besides dying? Yeah." Lovi had been thinking about them ever since the ship had stopped to get Johan. He regretted not being able to be quick enough to escape the guards or head in another direction. He regretted not being able to keep his brother safe but most of all, and this was the part of him that always felt inferior compared to others, "I've never had enough… gold."

Feli knew why his older brother said that. Ever since their grandfather died, he'd always wanted to provide for and prove to him that they didn't need anyone but each other to survive. And they were fine for a while but then…Gilbert ended up back in the picture and they sometimes depended on him for things. Lovi hated that with a passion. Especially when he wanted something and he wasn't able to get it for him because they were low in coin.

As for him, it was a mixture of things. He'd never be able to sell his salve or worse, he'd never be able to explore the world and learn it's different ways of healing. Shaking his head, Feli pressed his back against his brother miserably, "My biggest regret, besides dying, is that our biggest adventure is over before it even began and no one will even remember us."

Lovi breathed in heavily through his nose, his eyes watering at the sound of his brother's depressed tone, "If it's any consolation, fratellino, you… made my life an a-adventure."

"And," whimpered Feli through tears of his own, "if it's any consolation, fratellone, you made my life…rich." Johan watched the two Italians break down in sobs with disinterest, rolling his eyes and shaking his head with a snort. That stupid apple hadn't been worth this…

Drapping their arms over the side of their small boat and into the cool water, Feli and Lovi closed their eyes and dozed off for a nap. If they were lucky maybe—Rough grains brushed their hands and Feli instantly pulled it back out, wrinkling his nose at the sand before wiping it off on his pants.

Lovino however took a fist full before bringing in, a wild smile spreading across his face upon realizing what it was. Feli realized too when he noticed that the boat wasn't rocking anymore. Gasping, he turned around to face his brother, "Is it?!"

"It is!"

"It's land," the cried joyously before jumping out of the small boat and kissing the ground as if it were gold itself. Even Johan neighed happily and joined them, licking the grains and nuzzling his face against the warm sand.

Feli trailed his kisses up a boulder, opening his eyes when his lips fell into an empty socket…an empty eye socket. Jumping back in horror, Feli screamed, "Ve!"

"What's wrong," asked Lovino before noticing what had scarred his little brother. Screaming himself, he fell backwards and stared at the skeleton before him, "Everyone if favor of getting back into the boat say, I?"

"I!"

Johan snorted and was first to jump back into the boat followed by Lovino. The two worked into putting back into the water while Feli took in all of the island's features. One in particular seemed awefully familiar. Wiping his brow, he pulled out the folded map he and Lovi won and looked at it carefully, twisting it around until he matched the landmark with it. Holy shit…

"Oi, Feli! Quite stalling and help me over here!" When Feli remained unresponsive, Lovino growled softly and walked over to him, "Feli! Feliciano!" Shaking him, Lovi pulled back as if he'd been shocked, "What the hell is that? Is—is that that fucking map?!"

Feli ignored the anger in his brother's voice and beamed happily, "Fratello, we did it! It's all right here!"

"You _still_ have the map?!"

"The whistling rock, the stream!"

"You kept the map but you couldn't have gotten a little bit more food," cried Lovino now walking closer to his brother to strangle him.

"Look! Even the mountains are here." Feli turned around and hugged his brother, "You said so yourself, it could be possible and it is! It really is the map to El Dorado!" By the time he was done shaking his brother and his exclamation, Feli was breathing rapidly.

Lovi stared at him stoically, "…You drank sea water didn't you."

"Oh, come on!" Feli pouted and pulled away while his brother went back to drag the boat back into the water.

"I'm not coming on! I wouldn't step a foot into that stupid jungle for a million pesetas!"

Pesetas? Why would—of course! Smirking smugly, Feli sat on a boulder and watched his brother, "How about a _hundred_ million?"

Lovi froze mid tug, "What?"

"Well, I just thought since El Dorado was the city of gold…"

"What's your point?"

"Ve, _you_ know. Dust, nuggets, bricks. Temples where you can plug gold from the very walls but you don't want to go so why don't we just get back into the boat and row back to Spain? After all it worked oh so very well last time." The smirk grew smugger as Feli watched the wheels turn in his brother's mind.

"Wah—uh, wait."

"Yes, fratellone?"

Brows furrowed in thought, Lovi bit his lip excitedly, "I have a new plan."

"Do tell, Lovi~"

Lovi leaned into his brother, "We find the city of gold, we take the gold, _then_ we row back to Spain."

"And buy Spain!"

"Yeah!"

Giggling, Feli stood back up and plucked a sword from the skeleton's spine and pointed it towards the jungle, "That's the spirit, Lovi~ Come on, we'll follow that trail."

Lovi squinted in the direction his brother was pointing at, "What trail?"

"The trail, that we blaze, silly." Feli swung his sword at a few vines to clear a path only to hit solid stone, "Uh…_that_ trail that we blaze!"

Lovi pulled his shirt right and shook his head, already regretting his decision but it was too late. Feli was excited and already running to collect water for them. Johan simply stared after the silly Italian before making his way back to the boat. Or rather he tried. The older Vargas grabbed his reigns, "Oh, no you don't. We wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for your dumbass self jumping after a stupid apple."

'Excuse you, that apple was delicious,' thought Johan as he took a head butted Lovino, nipping at his trousers.

"Ouch! Feli, your stupid horse bit me!"

* * *

**El Dorado**

Ludwig glanced up from his painting of Feli and watched Antonio nervously pace back and forth, "Stop that, brother."

"I can't, Luddy," muttered Antonio. He rubbed his aching belly, "Mom and dad haven't returned from the high priest's temple. Oh gods, they're going to kill us. They're going to sacrifice us for sure!"

Standing up, Ludwig forced Antonio to stop pacing, "No one is going to die."

"Yes, we are, man! We're going to die and it's all because of that stupid lie we told."

"Why don't we leave?"

"Huh?"

"When they come back, we gather our things and leave like we've discussed before." Ludwig pulled out a map, "Look the guards shift at midnight if we take these two routes, they won't even notice that we all left together. You can take mom and dad and go this way while I take this other route. The guards will chase me giving you three enough to make a run for it."

Antonio shook his head, "It's too risky. What if you get caught?"

"Doesn't matter. I don't think they'll do anything to me…" He tugged on his blonde hair, "I'm a child of the sun and sea remember? A servant of the gods."

"If only two gods would show up…"

"Please, we could only be so lucky." Tightening his navy blue kilt, Ludwig gently nudged his adoptive brother towards the door, "Go buy some supplies. We need to plan this very carefully." Ludwig waited until Antonio did as he was told before pulling out his painting again. He pressed his lips to Feli's face, "Wherever you are, Liebe, pray for us."

* * *

**I'm sorry for taking forever to update. I was trying to complete The Conjuring before Halloween and that didn't happen. So I'm going to fall into a regular updating scheduled as I usually do where I try to update once a we****ek. Thank you to everyone who has added this story to their favorites/follow lists. It means so much to me that you guys are enjoying this story. Well, here we go ^_^ Oh! I did go back and change a little thing in chapter two. It's just Altivo will now be Johan. lol. You know I think that Italy is actually the owner of Germany cat, only because I've seen him play with him twice in official art and also because Italy would put a German flag ribbon around his neck. Also, Johan told Gino in the anime that he has to take a nap because it's part of his home's rules to do so...who else has a scheduled nap that has to be taken? Anywho, I think it's funny seeing Johan as a horse. I can't wait to write him and this story. **

**~Until Next Time (´ ▽ ` )ﾉ**

**VivaAmerica:****lol, when I first saw the movie to get a feel for how I wanted to write it, that was the first thing that popped into my head (・∀・ ) poor Roddy lol! Aw, thank you. I think you're right. Feli's thirst for adventure is fueled mostly by his thirst for knowledge' I'm hopping that it came across as that, I was having a little bit of trouble. And Lars, lol is a hard butt T_T I guess he has to be in order to deal with Cortes but I hoped he redeemed himself a little in this chapter. And yes, lol Canada will appear but not till the end. I think you guys will LOVE it =3**

**mimi-chan and aliling-chan: I'm going to see what I can do. Since Ludwig taught his adoptive family German/Spanish and some Italian along with some of the other citizens of El Dorado, I think I can come up with some easier names =3 Also, The Conjuring will be updated tomorrow. I wanted to today but I have a test on Muscles tomorrow and I only remember like half T_T **

**pastaaddict: lol, they are, huh? So cute though ^_^ Yeah, I thought it was rather merciful of Lars to let Gilbert whip them. **

**HeroinOfDarkness: I actually giggled at the thought of Gilbert being the horse. At first he was but I came up of something better for him later ^_^ I think you guys are going to enjoy what happens to him!**

**Guest: lol thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ**


	4. Welcome To El Dorado

**Philippines/Miguel**

**Cuba/**Máximo****

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. **

The volcano was livelier today than usual. Despite this, light chatter filled the market place where Ludwig was patiently waiting for the shop keeper to fill his leather pouch with dried meats It had been four days since he and Antonio told their parents what they were planning. Their mother had said that they were too old to fear running and that they would only slow them down but Antonio was adamant about taking her and their uncle with them. Ludwig frowned at the weight of his pouch when the vendor handed back, "Could you put a little bit more?"

"Going somewhere, _sun_ child," asked Miguel, nephew of Itzcoatl, or Adrian, as Ludwig had taken to call him. He stared at the towering blonde with arms crossed and smirked, "My uncle wishes to see you at the temple."

Ludwig clenched his jaw, "I'll go after I'm done here."

"No, you'll come now." Miguel grabbed Ludwig by the bicep and dragged him along, "Don't think for a second that I won't put you in your place, Ludwig. You may have been able to fool many but even my uncle is starting to see through your pretense."

"Pretense? What pretense?" Shaking Miguel off his arm, Ludwig glared, "Don't ever put your hands on me again."

"Or what?"

"Or you'll suffer the wrath of the gods," muttered Ludwig with enough conviction to even fool himself that such deities existed and were looking out for him. He climbed up the steps to Adrian's temple where he found the dark haired priest kneeled before a looming statue of a jaguar. Beside him were various charts and large books of ancient scripture.

Miguel waited patiently for his uncle to finish before shoving Ludwig towards him, "I've brought the sun child, uncle."

"Good. Leave us." Adrian stood and turned to Ludwig, "What news do you have of our creators?"

Ludwig crossed his arms and stayed silent. Ever since he learned their language and taught them Spanish, both the citizens and high priest had asked him about the gods he was apparently a servant to. Antonio and his parents had taught him every painstaking detail from every deity in El Dorado's culture along with the rituals and holidays. All this was so that when Adrian would summon him he would know what to say and buy them all more time.

When it got to the point where Adrian wanted more answers, Ludwig started to come up with things that needed to be done for the arrival of the duo Gods in order for them to feel welcomed. It started with small things, such as the temples all needed something red and something blue. Adrian commissioned a quest of sorts for the perfect shade of blue and red dye for it had to match Ludwig's explanation. That had taken three years and another just to finish painting specific characters into the temple which really had been Italian declarations of love for his childhood sweetheart but they needn't know that.

Afterwards, at Antonio's suggestion, Ludwig said that the Gods had come to him in a vision saying that they wanted a monument outside of the El Dorado so that they knew that their presence was wanted. It was to be made entirely of gold and that had taken six years to accomplish. The rest were smaller things here and there but Ludwig could tell that Adrian was reaching the end of his patience with him. He stood straighter and said, "It's nearly time, sir. They gods, they're coming. I'd say by the end of the week if that."

Adrian watched Ludwig carefully, "Is that so? The stars tell me otherwise. As a matter of a fact, the sky god looks rather hungry. Perhaps it's time for a sacrifice to appease him so that he doesn't take our precious sun, _your father_, away." He smiled darkly at the look of distress on Ludwig's face, "So you agree that a sacrifice will do?"

This was a test. Ludwig knew better but he didn't want to give the priest any reason to go through with the sacrifice. It was bad enough that fifteen were periodically thrown into the volcano twice a year so that it wouldn't erupt; something that he thanked the gods that he didn't have to have a part in. He raked his head for an idea, grasping at anything almost blindly until he sputtered out, "That won't be necessary. They'll be here. I know they will."

"You've been saying that for years now."

Trying his best to keep his nerves under control, Ludwig said, "Why don't you start preparations to welcome the age of the jaguar? If I'm telling that they'll be here it's because they will. Now if you excuse me, I must finish shopping for my family."

Dark eyes followed Ludwig as the blonde made his way to the entrance of the temple, "They aren't your real family. They're just mere mortals." Ludwig didn't respond but his jaw clenched at the high priest's words and refused to take the bait. He took the steps two at a time before rushing back home.

Antonio looked up from all the supplies he had set out on the table in front of him as soon as Ludwig slammed the door shut, "What's wrong?"

"We have to leave."

"What happened?"

Ludwig quickly gathered their things into bags before rushing to his room to get his small picture of Feli and stuffed that in his bag too. "The ring," he muttered to himself, "Where's the ring?" He turned over his small wooden boxes until he found Romulus' golden ring and his uncle's iron cross necklace. Large tanned hands covered his own trembling ones and Ludwig stopped, eyes moving up to meet worried green.

"Calm down," said Antonio slowly, "and tell me what happened."

It took a few moments but Ludwig managed to still his hands enough for Antonio to let go. He took a seat on his bed and ran them over his face, "Adrian's insane."

Antonio took a seat next to him and rolled his eyes, "Of course he is. Have you just now come to realize that?" Leaning back until his back met the Mattress, Antonio plucked the painting of Lovino and Feliciano and grinned while poking at Lovi's chubby cheek, "What do you suppose they're doing now?"

"What?" Ludwig dragged his hands away from his face and frowned, "The boys?"

"Who else?"

"I—I don't know. They're back in Spain I guess." Shaking his head, he fell back on his bed as well, "Adrian is probably going to round up people for a mass sacrifice."

Antonio's finger froze mid poke, "Wh-what makes you say that? What did he say exactly?"

"That the sky god is planning to eat our sun if he isn't fed. I don't know, bruder, but something tells me that you and your parents won't be spared from this reaping this time around. I told them that the creators are coming soon in hopes to sway him away from that but—"

"How soon?"

"End of the week soon…if not sooner."

"…shit," cursed Antonio in German making Ludwig snort.

"Ja."

They pondered their options until Antonio finally said, "We can leave this evening while everyone is inside for their evening siesta. The guards switch up around that time so we'll split up like you said and by then mom and dad will be back from the temple. Oh! I have to get something from there first."

"Antonio, we don't have time for—"

"We need a token to offer my dad's tribe's chief else they'll kill us. Don't worry, I'll be really fast."

"…alright."

* * *

Lovino was pissed. More than pissed, Lovi was damn near livid. For the past four days, he'd followed his brother blindly as Feli maneuvered them through the thick jungle. The enthusiasm he had initially had when first deciding to allow Feli to talk him into searching for El Dorado quickly diminished on the first day. He'd turned his back for a second to refill his canteen of water while Feli tried to coax Johan into letting him ride on his back when he realized that both he and the horse had gone ahead without him.

It had taken roughly thirty minutes before Feli finally came back in tears. Apparently he'd gotten lost while trying to find the trail again. Lovi had shaken his head and flipped the map right side up, "Stupid…" By night nightfall, they managed to find the second marker, a bird shaped opening in a cave, that told them that they were on the right path. They fell asleep in there and continued on until their trail was blocked by heavy vines.

While Feli chopped away at them, Lovino lost what little patience he had and decided to just walk through the river. Feli had tugged Johan's reign to keep the horse from following after his older brother, "Fratello, I don't think you should go—"

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing." As soon as Feli made his own way across, he found Lovino sitting in his underwear as he plucked leeches from his skin. He immediately ran over to help him pull them off his back all the while listening to his brother cry angrily and scream curses at the river. He didn't quit learn his lesson though because later that afternoon, when Feli encouraged him to follow _his_ way, Lovi insisted on walking through another pond using the large uneven rocks as a bridge.

Behind him, Feli heard Johan neigh in amusement which prompted him glance over at his brother just as the older Italian's rear was bitten by one of the piranhas in the pond. He'd managed to pull it off by Feli was quick to clean the wound much to Lovi's mortification and anger, "Ve, at least we have dinner, Fratellone~"

Dinner, of course, given their luck, was promptly snatched away by a strange round creature that had taken to following them about. Lovi glared at it halfheartedly and shook his head before taking some berries his brother had deemed safe for consumption. They picked up the trail at first light and stumbled upon a hot spring.

Sore and feeling rather sticky from the humidity of the jungle, the two brothers didn't think twice of stripping down and jumping in. Lovino laughed happily for once in their trip and leaned back against the rocks, letting the hot water sooth the aches away. Feli all but purred in content as he leaned his head on his brother's shoulder, "Ve~" He contemplated dozing off when he felt something tug on his curl. Eye's shooting open, he cried, "Lovino!"

"Th-that wasn't me, dumbass," stuttered Lovino, red faced. He pointed to a small group of monkeys who were eying them curiously, "It was those little bastar—oi!" Scrambling out of the water, Lovi chased after a monkey who ran off with his clothes, "Come back here, you little shit!"

Feli of coursed laughed good naturedly until he realized that another monkey was running away with his own clothes which had _him_ scrambling out and after it as well. It had taken a few minutes but Feli managed to coax a trade with the small animals, their clothes in exchange from some of the berries he collected. Afterwards, it had taken another few minutes to locate their trail again. Lovi decided to take his turn on Johan and dozed off while Feli lead them through the jungle.

He managed to find them a good spot to settle for the night which, of course, meant that it had plenty of leaves to provide protection from the rain. Before Lovi cursed up a storm at the, well, storm, Feli put his knowledge of basic engineering to use and made them a small shelter big enough for Johan to slide him and for them to cuddle next to their horse. That had placated his brother for the moment but he drowned out his complaints and chose instead to study the map again.

Feli was shaken awake the next day and to his joy, Lovi wasn't in a foul mood as he had been prior to sleep. He chalked that up to the fact that the older Italian had found another marker while he let him sleep in a few more hours. They helped Johan down a small hill and coaxed him to jump onto pillars across a gorge where Lovino spotted the weeping woman monument. Water fell from her large stoned eyes like rivers of tears but it was enough to put a smile of Lovi's face which in turn put a smile on Feli's face.

They made to the final marker before the last which had been a large wolf shaped cave that spewed butterflies as if it were fire. That wasn't the reason why Lovino was pissed—I'm sorry, livid—however. He was livid partly because shortly after walking past the fire breathing wolf, and just as things were starting to look up, a heavy fog settled on the jungle floor and he lost both Feli and Johan for four hours. Not to mention he was sure that the stupid creature that had stolen their dinner and had been stalking them for the past four days was _still_ trailing them.

As soon as he found them, Lovino had forced them all to hold on to each other as he led them forward. Which again, he should say, is only partly because after walking forward for a few minutes they managed to find themselves walking in thin air. Which, of course—_Of fucking course_, cursed Lovino—was impossible. So, they tumbled down the drop off. Thick leaves and branches slowed their fall and they managed to land on moss. But that's only another part as to why Lovino was livid.

The major reason why he was livid was because after waking up from unconsciousness he found himself face to face with the marker at the end of the line. El Dorado, said the map. The golden one he supposed was the loose translation but as he currently stared at it, at the towering almost thirty feet, marker, he couldn't help but tremble in anger. Lovi stood up carefully and looked at the detail carefully carved into it. Two men with peculiar curls sat on top of a horse like serpent while another man was on his knees offering them a bowl. Smaller details were etched onto it but the fog loomed over the top and blocked out whatever it was and if Lovi were being honest, which he was, he didn't give a damn.

But because he was a good brother, and didn't want to kill his only living relative on impulse, Lovino walked around the marker just to make sure that it wasn't hiding the real El Dorado. As an added measure, he even gently scraped his nails over it but only specs of caked mud peeled off.

Sighing, Lovi gently nudged Feli's side with his foot and said softly, "Feli. Feli, wake up." At his groans, Lovi bent down to shake him awake, "Feli, we're here."

Feli gasped, "We found it?!"

"Oh yeah. We found it."

"Fantastico!" Jumping up excitedly, Feli glanced around him, "Where is it? How far?"

"Right here," said Lovi with a small smirk as he crossed his arms and watched Feli run around like a puppy trying to find it.

"Behind the rock?"

"No, no. Right here." The older Vargas wrapped an arm around the younger's shoulders and pulled him in so that he could see the large stone, "This, here, this is it."

Shaking his head, Feli furrowed his brow, "No, that can't—give me that!" He snatched the map from Lovi's hands and studied it furiously, "This can't be right."

"Apparently, El Dorado is native for great, big,_ rock_!" A part of Lovi wanted to strangle his brother for talking him into this expedition but the crushed look on his face placated his lividness down to a simmering anger. He pushed him and hopped onto Johan, "But hey, man, I'm feeling generous so _you_ can have _my_ share."

"Y-you don't think Cortes got here first and—"

"And what," asked Lovi with a sneer, "took the _really_ great big rock? The jackass!"

Feli started to breathe faster, tears working their way up to his eyes. He worried the map in between his hands, "But, fratello, we need to think about this. I mean we came all this way. We—w-w-we really—"

"_Get. On. The. Horse_," growled Lovino before picking up his brother by his collar and settling him behind him. He frowned when Feli sighed sadly, "Nah ah-ah, not with the face, stop." He hated to admit that seeing his brother look like that was putting a crack in his anger but it was. Motioning over to their right, he cleared his throat, "Right, well looks likes there's a pass right over there. Maybe we can find you some plants or something to study."

As he tried to lift Feli's spirit's up, behind the rock, Antonio burst through from the water fall. Things had gone horribly wrong in his and his family's escape. Somehow Miguel had heard of their plan and the guards were planted right where they had planned to leave the city. Ludwig had taken their parents and gone the other way, much to his dismay, while Antonio used himself to bait the guards to chase after _him_. It had been a spur of the moment change of plans but he did manage to see them make it out ok and he trusted Ludwig to keep them safe.

"Wah," cried Antonio as he slipped and fell face first into the water. Shaking himself off, he quickly grabbed his things and continued running only to collide with Johan's chest.

"What the hell," said Lovi, blushing as he got too much of an eyeful of Antonio. Shielding his brother's eyes, he cursed, "Perverted bastard, cover up!"

Feli tilted his head to the side, "Eh? Who are you talking to, fratellone?"

"Some perverted bastard."

"Oh~" He leaned back to pull away from his brother's hand and looked behind the rock. Feli paled at the sight of a group of half-naked men. Not that he had a problem with their attire. Rather, the deadly looking spears they held in their hands, "F-fratello?"

Rubbing his head, Antonio glanced up and gasped. His green eyes widened in disbelief. Lovi stared back with curiosity, "What the hell were you running away from dressed like that?"

"Fratello?"

"And why are you staring at me like you know me? You don't know me! Stop looking at me like that," cried Lovino, his face burning red at the intense look Antonio was giving him.

"Lovino!"

"What?!"

Feli responded by gripping his brother tight and slapping Johan's rear, "Run, Johan, run!" The dark horse noticed what was scaring his master and it scared him too. Rising on his hind legs, he let out a neigh before trying to do as he was told. Antonio saw too and grabbed his things again. They didn't make it far but to their surprise, the guards didn't attack.

With gasps and wide eyes, the guards stared at the two Italians in both fear and bewilderment. Even the captain of the guard, Miguel, was in awe. That didn't, however, deter him from his prey. He turned his glare on Antonio who threw his clothed treasure at Lovino. Lovi frowned, "The hell is this?" He tossed back to Antonio who threw it again. This went on for a few moments until he gave up and tried to appease the guards. The small round sphere collided with his head and he glared at Antonio before addressing Miguel, "C-ciao. Is this your rock?"

At their lack of response, Feli pulled his face away from his brother's back, "W-we were just looking."

"Yeah…yeah! We're tourists! _Tour-ists_," said Lovi again slowly as if it would make a difference, "We—uh, we got separated from our group. May we go now?" Arms tightened painfully around his waist when Miguel thrusted his spear at their neck, "Chigi!"

Miguel didn't take his eyes off the two Italians, "Take the thief and make sure that these two don't divert from us."

"But sir," said one of the guards, "They're—"

"That's for my uncle to decide. Now do as I said."

Feeling arms lift him up, Antonio hugged his sphere close to his chest. Thoughts of how incredibly lucky, or unlucky, he wasn't sure yet, he was quietly stewed in his head. He lifted his face towards the sky and prayed that the others made it safely out. Cracking an eye open, he stifled another gasp. In the trees, both his mother and father were staring down at him with worry. His father tightened his grip on a spear but Antonio gave him a subtle shake of the head before dropping a small package into the water. Well, at least they were safe…but where was Ludwig? Antonio figured that perhaps he was securing some water for the journey to their uncle's village.

The fog lifted behind them as they followed Miguel, revealing the golden marker Ludwig had convinced Adrian to commission.

Johan, though hesitant to take his masters towards danger, allowed for one of the men to take his reigns and tug him towards the waterfall. He felt Feliciano tighten his legs around his back and snorted at the guards as they approached a long boat, stomping his front foot. Lovino patted his mane soothingly, "Steady, bastard. Don't make things worse on us."

Hopping off the black horse, he helped Feli down and held his hand tightly as they took their seat in the boat. Johan followed and sat behind Antonio. Lovi tried his best too look anywhere but at the man sitting in front of him. Honestly! Didn't the man have any sense of shame? Staring at him like that as if he were some god…

The guards followed in their own boat behind them, everyone surprisingly quiet save for the few random hushed whispers in a language neither Lovino nor Feliciano could understand. After roughly fifteen minutes, Lovi sang Feli's lullaby three times to keep time, there was light at the end of the tunnel. It reflected off of Antonio's sphere and into their eyes making them shift in the boat to see. The action made their curls overlap with each other to make a small heart and it was all Antonio could do not to squeal at the adorableness.

Odds were that these two were not who he thought they were but if they were then perhaps he was luckier than he thought. He tried to get a look at their hands for rings like the one's Ludwig had and—oh sweet gods! Antonio momentarily forgot what he was doing and stared shamelessly at the two brother's rears as they shifted in their seats to look at the wonders of his home.

Feli and Lovi, oblivious to Antonio's wandering eyes, stared ahead with slack jaws. Feli tightened his hold on his brother's hand, "F-fratello..."

"I know," whispered Lovi in Italian, "It's—"

"I-It's—"

"El Dorado," the said together in awe for the city was literally made of gold. Granted, most of it was clay and other material but the architecture was enforced with gold. An imposing temple stood proudly at the center of the city with two smaller, but no less imposing, ones behind it. Feli glanced over the boat and giggled happily as a swarm of golden colored butterflies flew past his face, tickling his chin as they did. Large colorful fish, no less than maybe six feet long, swam underneath them making Johan nicker softly in awe. He snorted at the little round creature to be careful as it swam contently after them.

Around them the citizens of El Dorado were emerging from their homes to continue about their day. They caught sight of the two men inside the boat and started to murmur excitedly, or fearfully, Lovino wasn't sure yet, as they pointed at him and his brother. He locked eyes with a young mother and she nearly dropped her basket of fruits in fear. Lovi couldn't help but feel awkward in having so many eyes on him, "Keep close to me, Feliciano."

"Ve," cooed Feli softly as he reached over the boat to lightly touch a fish, grinning when it's scales shifted from a navy blue to gold.

Miguel's boat sped up ahead of theirs, pulling into a slot before he jumped out and ran to his uncle's temple. Another guard nervously looked between the two Italians and his people. If his commanding officer was right, if _his_ gut was right, then they were in for dark times. Shaking off his negative thoughts less they were overheard by the two in the boat, the guard took off in the other direction where Chief Máximo resided in his navy blue and gold home.

He found his stout leader playing with his children, "Chief! Chief, there is something you must know."

Máximo smiled kindly and beckoned him closer, "What is it?" He tilted his ear up so that his guard could whisper in his ear. His smile fell from his face and worry seeped into his eyes, "I see."

Across the city, Miguel ran up hundreds of steps until he reached his uncle's temple. He found Adrian meditating while two of his servants held Ludwig down while another painted symbols on his chest with blue paint. Miguel saw his uncle reach for his dagger and stopped him, "Uncle." Leaning in he whispered his news.

Dark brown eyes cracked open, a small smirk gracing his face as he raised a hand to stop his servants from proceeding with the blonde, "Well, well, sun child. It seems you were right." Ludwig glared at Adrian but didn't say anything as he was roughly pulled back to his feet and forced to follow after Adrian's servants to be cleansed.

Back in the city's main square, Feli and Lovi had climbed back onto Johan's back in a last attempt of seeking safety, as if their horse's tall stature would save them from what was about to come. They were ushered towards the high temple and the closer they got, the worse Lovino was feeling about the situation. It certainly didn't help that the man that had bumped into them was cowering behind them in fear.

Vague stories were resurfacing to his memory about people with spears. They liked waving them about, preferably with the heads of their enemies shish-kabobed onto them. At least, that's what he remembered his granduncle telling them. Gulping, he kissed his brother's head, "It was nice working with you, fratellino."

Feli bit his lip. So this really was it then, huh? If his brother didn't see a way out of it then it must be. Figuring that they were going to die soon, the young Italian sighed, "Lovi, I just want you to know…I'm sorry about your tomato garden."

Lovi frowned, "What are you—oh! Chigi! That was you?! You fuc—"

"Behold," cried Adrian to the hushed crowed, "as the prophecies foretold, the time of judgment is now!"

The two Italians stared in shock at the dark haired man. He was speaking Spanish! How the hell did he know Spanish? The shock of that quickly died when they realized what he'd said. Judgment. They were going to die! And at the hands of people who apparently didn't know the concept of pants. Behind Adrian, Máximo stepped forward and solemnly crossed his arms over his chest as he studied Lovino and Feliciano carefully. Adrian ignored him and continued, "Citizens! Was it not predicted that the Gods would come to us?"

Gods? What gods? Feli and Lovi looked around them before exchanging curious looks with each other. Did he mean…did he mean _them_? Miguel didn't seem as convinced by his uncle's assumption. He whispered, "How do we know for certain?"

Adrian grinned, "Faith, boy." He shoved him down on his knees before Johan and the two brothers and bowed, "My lords, I am Itzcoatl, your devoted high priest and speaker of the Gods. This is my nephew, Miguel, guardian of our sacred temples."

Lovi disentangled an arm from his brother and waved, saying with a meek smile, "Hey." He nudged Feli and the younger sibling waved as well.

"And I'm Chief Máximo." Máximo bowed next to Adrian, "What names may we call you?"

Swallowing a hysterical laugh by their sudden change in luck, Lovi dismounted Johan and straightened himself up to his full height, "My name is Lovino."

He helped his brother down but Feli's foot got tangled with Johan's reign. Lovi had to forcibly restrain himself from slapping his face. Thankfully, and only god knew how he did it, Feli managed to make it look as if it was intentional and in a surprisingly deep voice he said, "And I am Feliciano."

"And you may call us Lovino and Feliciano." Around him he could hear people murmur amongst themselves, repeating their names devotedly and weighing their divinity on their tongues.

Máximo tilted his head, "So, my lords, how long do you plan on staying in El Dorado?"

"Your arrival has been greatly anticipated," said Adrian, trailing off as he spotted Antonio trying to sneak away out of the corner of his eye. Sneering, he gripped Antonio by his arm, "I see you've captured this temple robbing thief. How would you have us punish him?"

Antonio squirmed with distress, "No, no, no! I'm not a thief!" He glanced between the high priest and the two Italians, "You see, th-th-the gods sent Ludwig 'n me a vision to bring them tribute from the temple to guide them here. My only wish is to help him serve the gods."

At the mention of Ludwig's name, Feli jerked his head to look at Antonio incredulously. Lovino glanced down as well and locked eyes with Antonio whose intense gaze was penetrating his, begging him to support his statement. He ignored Feli as his young brother let go of his arm and crossed him arms, "Release him…don't you think?" The sound of sharp breaths being sucked in had him wondering if he said the wrong thing but to his relief Adrian did as he said without question.

"As you wish, my lord." Motioning to the golden sphere in Antonio's hands, he added, "You'll begin with taking that to its rightful place."

Miguel watched as Antonio gave a worried look over to Máximo before scurrying back to the temple. He furrowed his brow, "My lords, are you sure you want him to be your servant? Surely there are others more devoted than—"

"No," said Feli with a dismissive wave of his hand, "He'll do. Isn't that right, Lovino?" Lovi shrugged noncommittally.

Light reflected from the golden ring around Feli's finger and Adrian nodded, "Behold, citizens! The sun child will soon be with his true master!" He turned to his nephew, "Where is he anyway? A cleanse doesn't take this long." The joy dimmed some as Miguel whispered into his ear. "I see.

Lovi grimaced and hid his own ring, which he still wore around his neck under his shirt. The last thing he need was for everyone to assume that he was wedded to a so called sun child. All he wanted right now was to find the gold and get the hell out of there.

"My lords," said Máximo again, "Forgive me, but why _now _did you choose to come to El Dorado ?"

"Enough," hissed Adrian angrily. He slapped Máximo, much to the Chief's annoyance and motioned towards Lovino and Feli, "You do not question the gods!"

Feli scowled, "That's right! Do not question us."

Lovi nodded in agreement. It would seem that all this new power had awoken something in Feli. Perhaps now he would be blessed with having a more cunning brother. One that would think quickly on his feet and have to rely on him to bust them out of—

"Or we'll have to be forced to unleash our great and terrible power! And you don't want that, do you."

—Scratch that. His brother was an idiot! Eyes tight and wide, Lovi felt his head involuntarily move on its own until it settled his gaze on Feliciano.

"Why yes, we do," cried Adrian.

"Ve…you do?" Feli's courage seemed to abandon him and he turned to Lovi bashfully.

"Of course we do!" A near manic smile graced his face as he turned to the citizens of El Dorado, "Visit your wrath on the non-believers. Show us the might of your divinity!"

"_Divinity_, heh," Lovi chuckled nervously as he tried to tug his brother away, "one moment."

Feliciano winced when his brother dug his fingers into his shoulder, "Ve…"

Forcing a smile, Lovi spoke in Italian through clenched teeth, "Brother, do you know that little voice that people have that tells them to quit while they're ahead? You don't have one!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I-I just got carried away…"

"_Way_ away!"

"Wh-what if we just tell the truth and beg for mercy?"

"Are you nuts?! We'll be butchered alive." Lovi crouched down and pressed his fingers to his head as he tried to come up with a plan. He felt Feli crouch down next to him.

"Yes, but, they're getting suspicious." Feli glanced over at his shoulder and saw Adrian grinning like a mad man while Miguel and Máximo stared at them with strained eyes. Gulping, he shook his brother and whispered, "If we don't come up with some super mega cosmic event—"

"Shut up!" Lovi slapped Feli's hands away and stood up, "I'm trying to think!"

Feli followed him up and kept talking to him rapidly. Behind them, Johan noticed the dark smoke they saw earlier get darker. The dark horse neighed at them frightfully and nudged at the two brothers. Lovi pushed his head away, "I can't think with all these distractions. I swear to god if it's not you it's the horse and when it's not the horse it's you. It's a never ending cycle with you two!"

The people of El Dorado watched their two deities bicker between themselves in a foreign tongue that Ludwig had failed to teach them. Rumbles from their volcano became loud enough to force their gaze on to it. They gripped what they had in their hands tightly and looked between the two mighty forces in horror. It would seem that their gods were awakening the slumbering mountain with their anger alone.

Adrian seemed perplexed at first but quickly put two and two together. As Feli shook and smacked his brother's head, paired with their dark steed insistent snorts and neighs, the redder Lovino's face got. The redder Lovino's face got, the more violent the smoking mountain became. Black ash and terrible smoke oozed from its hole threatening their very city with its fury when Lovino finally snapped and growled, "STOP!"

'Wonderful,' thought Adrian to himself as the volcano miraculously sucked in all of its destructive force back, spewing a last bit of smoke in apology. He smirked at Máximo's gaping expression and crossed his arms proudly.

The two brothers noticed that it was deafly silent around them. Gone were the hushed mutterings and excited gasps. Lovi and Feliciano slowly turned around. Usually, after things had gone their way in a scam back in Spain, they would be filled to the brim with joy and relief. That paled in comparison to what they felt as they eyed every citizen bowing before them with their foreheads pressed to the ground in worship. Nudging his brother to follow his lead, Lovi spread his arms out in triumph.

"Oh mighty lords," gushed Adrian, bowing before the two. He sent a scowl to Máximo and the chief bowed before them as well. Pleased, Adrian motioned for the Italian's to follow him, "Come, let me show you to your temple."

Feli giggled, "Alright! Temple~" Lovi rolled his eyes affectionately and draped an arm around his brother's shoulder as they followed after Adrian.

Dark eyes glistening with mirth, Adrian smirked smugly at his chief, "Step aside."

Máximo took a stiff step back, allowing Adrian to walk past. He glanced over his shoulder to his people as they hesitantly stood back up. The gods had finally arrived which meant that their time of living fearless of the sacrifices had come to an end. If these divine entities were anything like how Adrian said they were, life as they knew was surely going to come to a bloody end.

* * *

**Ok, so, I had to FORCE my self from using this version of the chapter as opposed to the original version where Feli finds out that Ludwig is still alive/their reunion. However, I have something else in mind for that in the next chapter. As of now, Antonio believes that Ludwig is with their parents in the jungle and he is plotting his own escape, preferably with gold. Mexico's name changed and I will let Antonio explain why Ludwig calls him Adrian in the next chapter. The armadillo, I kept calling creature because I'm still not sure what I want it to be. I was thinking that it could be Itabby/Gino but then I remembered that they use him as a ball in the movie and as such he will be used as a ball in the story. Not sure if I want to do that to poor Gino...then I was thinking Mochi! Italy but then I wondered, why the heck would mochi exist in this story? Then again...there a stoned jaguar will be brought to life so I don't know. What do you guys think? Stick to the armadillo or bring in mochi? I would make something up for it to make sense...the only reason I'm hesitant is because, that's kind of animal abuse, you know? I mean i killed Hana in another story and had to go bring her back to life because I felt bad lol. **Anyway, I hope to update soon. I have my thanksgiving break coming up so I'll be able to write another chapter by then. OMG! I just realized. You guys have been with me for a year now haven't y'all? Oh! Oh! This is freaking amazing! I love all of you, do y'all know that? I'm sorry it takes me a while to update. I do try but it's getting real close to the time where I'm going to start applying to nursing school and I need to take a test for that so I've been studying and trying to keep my gpa at a competitive level T_T On the plus side of that, because I've literally been in school ALL year round, I'm taking the spring and summer off so, I'll have plenty of stories for you guys...cause, come fall and if I am accepted into nursing...well, I don't want to think about that cause it makes me sad. ** **

**A huge thanks to everyone who's added this story to their favorites/follow list. It means so much ^_^**

**PS- How would you guys like it if at the end of the story, as part of the memo I write to alert the next story, if I add like the scenes that didn't make the cut for the story? Kind of like a deleted scenes segment? I have a whole bunch for all the disneytalia stories, especially for the one that started it all The Ghost Of Notre Dame**

**~Until Next Time ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ**

**VivaAmerica: lol, yes! He's adorable. Can't wait till he meet's Gino the...whatever I decide to make him lol! Poor Lars lol. He's such a stick in the mud ^_^' I do too! I think they're cute little guys, can't wait to continue their interactions. I'm especially looking forward to the game they play against Cuba's warriors lol! **

**mimi-chan and aliling-chan: Antonio's parents wont be mentioned again until the last chapter, at least not by name. Is Adrian better? lol It's actually my name minus the -a at the end ^_^ And I meant Johan as a horse （ ´∀｀） my mistake lol!**

**HeroinOfDarkenss: They are! Antonio's figuring out who our two Italians are and will tease them in the next chapter. Ludwig will find out about Feli then too and vice versa. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ Yes it is! Lol, I always liked them, even in their own world or whatever, to have this strange friendship because they're both so close to the Italy Brothers. But in this, I liked the idea of Antonio's parents adopting Ludwig and for the two kids to teach each other their language. It's even better because Antonio was so fascinated by Ludwig's painting of Lovi and Feli, Lovino in particular that he would bug Ludwig to tell him stories about the angry little tomato! And Ludwig would be like, 'Nein, I want to talk about Feli. Feli's the cute one.'  
**

**romanos-curl: mine too! My sister told me that that scene reminds her the most of her and me, with her being Tulio and me being Miguel. We've been in a situation like that once before during a role play thing we did with a group of our friends and family. lol, we went camping and the younger kids and teens, and me lol, decided it would be fun if we role played capture the flag. My sister, cousin and I were "imprisoned" because of something stupid we did while playing capture the flag and that whole boat scene is like the synopsis of what went down with us. It was amazing! *sigh* sorry, lol（ ´∀｀）I was caught in the moment. Back to the review, I'm so happy you like that about my stories! I try to put my own spin on these things so that they're still mine, you know? Also because I know that most of us grew up with these stories but we're not kids anymore so we can get away with a more mature version of the plot. Lol, I think none of us can wait for Spamano interaction ^^ I certainly can't wait to write it!**

**pastaaddict: Poor Lovi, I agree! lol. Gosh! As I'm writing this, I REALLY want to go back and change the story to the original just so that I can show how Ludwig reacted at seeing Feli. But I think it would serve the story better if I wait till next chapter for them to see each other again. (o´ω｀o)**

**zoewinter1: They are! (≧ω≦)**


	5. It's Tough To Be A God

***lowers chapter with fishing pole***

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia nor The Road to El Dorado**

Lovino was pretty positive his grandfather once told him that the stairway to heaven was paved with all things good, which the former later rephrased with all things gold. There was no way Lovi couldn't help but chuckle at the irony as he climbed the stairs to their temple as he thought about it. However the more he climbed, the more it felt like the stairway was going to lead them to a damn heart attack.

The two brothers had managed to make it through the first eighty or so steps like the two poised gods they were pretending to be but as soon as they reached the next eighty, their legs felt like jelly. Thankfully the people couldn't see this far up or, at least, they prayed they couldn't because they were literally crawling up the remaining steps. How the chief and Adrian were not suffering was beside them. Hell, even Johan, the proud war horse, had gotten winded during their ascent to the temple.

When they finally reached the top, the setting sun's remaining rays giving them a pat on their sweaty backs for a job well done, Lovi and Feli were practically goo on the floor. They force themselves to stand regally before the chief and high priest turned around to check on them. Giving them a curious look, Maximo cleared his throat, "Are you ok, my lords?"

Adrian sniffed as he pulled the curtain to allow Feli and Lovi into their quarters, "Of course they're ok. They're _more_ than ok. They're perfect! Is the temple to your liking my lords? The sun child and his keepers specifically had us decorate to your liking."

The interior of their temple was something out of Feli's story books. Regal pillows of bright greens and reds embroidered with beautiful flowers and glass beads littered the floor around a small marbled table in the corner of the room. A large circular and shallow pool was at the center of the room. Inside it was a sky mosaic of different hues of blue tiles. Lovi watched as Feli's eyes widened at the far wall where two thrones were, "It's perfect."

"Excellent," cried Adrian with a proud grin. He rubbed his hands together gleefully, "Well then, to commemorate your arrival, I propose a reverent celebration at dawn."

Maximo squeezed his way past the high priest and smiled at the two Italians, "Then perhaps _I_ could prepare a glorious feast for you tonight."

Rolling his eyes, Adrian bowed before Lovino and Feliciano, "Which would you prefer?"

Feli glanced at his brother, "Both?"

"Both," agreed Lovi

"Both," they said together with nod. Feli looked down his nose at Adrian, "Both is good."

Adrian bowed again, "Yes, course. Until then, my lords."

"My lords." Maximo followed suit before tugging the curtains shut to give his two gods some privacy. He ran a hand over his face and sighed heavily, vaguely aware that the high priest was still within his proximity. Whatever Adrian was yammering about was lost on him for his mind was on his people. When Antonio's parents had first brought Ludwig into the city under the pretense that he was a demi child born of the sun and sea to serve two gods that would arrive shortly after his arrival, he had thought they only said that keep from being sacrificed. He'd allowed it and had even gone as far as to support their claims despite knowing better because not only did he not believe in the insane ideas Adrian did but because it spared his own subject's lives.

Ludwig had been a blessing in disguise. The little blonde child had been mortified by the thought of sacrificial offerings and between him and his adoptive parents had devised ways into tricking Adrian around such things. But now Ludwig was gone and the gods really did arrive. Would they be just as the ancient texts described them? Would they be out for his people's blood and wish to devour their bloodied bodies? Maximo shivered at the thought.

Next to him Adrian chuckled, "And so begins the age of the jaguar. Happy new year." Thoughts of how to further please his gods swam in his mind until he finally settled on a special surprise for Feliciano. Rubbing his hands together gleefully, he said, "I better start a brew of chocolate; the sun child will need it for tomorrow morning."

Back inside the temple Lovi and Feli waited until they couldn't hear retreating footsteps before grinning at each other. Feli giggled, "Ve~"

"Ve, ve," chirped Lovi back lovingly before scooping his little brother up and twirling around the pool before falling onto the pile of pillows in a fit of laughter, "I can't believe this is actually happening. Those idiot's _actually_ think we're gods!"

Feli rolled away and hugged one of the pillows to his chest, "It's an entire city of suckers, fratellone!"

"We just have to keep this shit up long enough to load up on the gold and get the hell out of here."

"Lovi, we'll be living like kings," cried Feli excitedly. He bounced on his pillow, "And we'll be able to afford to buy Lizzy and Roderich and Gilbert new homes and everything, too."

Lovi scoffed, "Forget them, stupid. It's all about us now. Imagine it." He stood up and posed regally, "Feliciano and Lovino."

"Hehe, Lovino and Feliciano!"

"Mighty—"

"—and powerful—"

"Gods!"

As the two brothers played around in their chamber, Antonio watched them from behind a pillar. A small smile played at his lips. He couldn't believe it! All this time he'd only known the brothers from stories Ludwig would tell him and the small painting he had of them but now here they were in the flesh. Truly his creator was looking out for him to send two angels, the two Vargas brothers of all people, to his rescue. The only thing that he needed to do now, though, was to help these two survive as long as they needed to get out.

His eyes darted over to Lovino who was testing his throne. The Italian was humming to himself as he eyed the gold embedded into the wall. His face was so cute! With his strange little curl and adorable cheeks, which Antonio was positive were soft and squishy to the touch, he couldn't understand how Ludwig didn't adore him as much as he did Feli. Not to say that the younger brother wasn't cute, cause he totally was, but there was something different about the older that made him gravitate towards him instead.

Antonio shook his head and forced himself to hide back behind the pillar, "Focus," he whispered to himself. If he wanted to survive this too he would have to think like his mom. One thing he knew about Lovino, and he liked to think he knew a hell of a lot more than the high priest, was that he wasn't one to let people into his intimate circle so easily. And given how he was watching his little brother as Feli toyed with a golden lever near the pool, Antonio would venture a guess that his intimate circle wasn't that big.

The sound of heavy cogs working after Feli managed to pull the lever, drew Lovi and Johan to him. Lovi plopped next to him, "What did you do? I swear, I can't leave you alone for a min—"

"I didn't do anything," said Feliciano with an eye roll. As the cogs moved, the blue tiles shifted clockwise and golden ones emerged. The cogs didn't stop until the gold tiles finished aligning themselves into a shape both men knew very well. A golden sun with the letter V encased inside the circle smiled up at them through the water.

Lovi and Feli stared at it with wide eyes before exchanging glances with one another. As if to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him, Lovino reached in and touched it, "Holy shit."

"I-is it real, fratello," asked Feli, he too reaching in to touch it. "How is this possible? Are we really gods?"

"Don't be stupid. Of course, we're not."

"But Lovi, how the heck did they—why is this here? Grandpa always did say—"

Lovino cut his brother off before he finished he thought, "The better question you should be asking yourself is how these people even know Spanish. I know for a fact that the Spaniards didn't beat us here…"

A wonderful idea hit Feliciano that made him grin and shake his brother, "What if it was Luddy?"

"What?"

"Ludwig! What if he didn't die? I knew I heard them say his name when we arrived. I just thought I'd imagined it but it makes so much sense, doesn't it? It would explain why this is here and why they think we're gods. What if he told them that so that they wouldn't kill him?" Gasping, Feli's eyes widened, "What if he's still here?! Fratello, we have to find him!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Get back here." Lovino dragged his brother back, "You can't just go out there, you idiot. We have to be careful."

"But Ludwig—"

"Is dead. He's been dead for years now."

Feli frowned, "I—I don't…" He bowed his head with a sad sigh, "You're right…you're right, I'm sorry. I just miss him and I thought," he trailed off, tightening his lips to keep a sob in. Despite the time, he still felt his chest constrict whenever he thought of his childhood sweetheart. Feli let his brother pull him into an embrace and he wrapped his arms around Lovi's waist, "I miss him."

"Shh," muttered Lovino as he patted Feli's head, "I know but he wouldn't want you crying, right? At the least the potato eater and I had _that_ in common." He allowed his little brother a few more moments to let it all out before patting his back again, "Alright, that's enough. Wipe the damn tears away. Gods aren't supposed to cry. You don't want those idiots outside to see you with tear stained cheeks and puffy eyes when we go down there for dinner, do you?"

"Ve, that's right!" Feli wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, "They're throwing a party just for us~ "

"Yeah. Just be sure not to do anything stupid like you did earlier." Leaning against his arms on the pillow, Lovi glanced up to the ceiling in though, "As long as we stay a step ahead of them, and I keep my head straight, we'll be just fine."

Antonio took a deep breath and decided that perhaps this was as good of an opening as he would get to introduce himself. So while the two Italians were conspiring amongst themselves, Antonio walked up to them with the golden treasure he had stolen as a peace offering for his uncle. He offered a friendly smile and said, "Hello!"

Johan nickered in warning while Feli and Lovi jumped onto their thrones, each shrieking in terror. Antonio couldn't help but giggle at how cute they looked. He patted Johan's head to show that he meant no harm before sliding the sphere back in its rightful place. Remembering himself, Lovino straightened himself up, "Depart, mortal! Before we, er, strike you with a-a lightning bolt…o-or something."

When it seemed that his older brother wasn't getting through to the trespasser, Feli waved his arms and wiggled his fingers in a way that he hoped made him look menacing, "Beware the wrath of the gods! Be gone! Ck-ck!"

"Save it for the high priest, cutie," chuckled Antonio in clear Spanish as he leaned against a small table, "you're gonna need it."

"Ck-ck!"

Lovino's face fell, "Fratello, it's not working."

"Ck-ck!"

"Feli, we've been caught."

Waving his hands defensively, Antonio shook his head, "No, no, no. You boys don't have to worry about me. 'My only wish is to serve the gods', remember?"

"How," asked Lovi suspiciously.

"Well, if you guys want the gold, and you don't want to get caught, you're going to need my help." He fished around his satchel and pulled out the tiny frame he found on Romulus and showed it to him, "Besides I would never hurt Ludwig's friends."

A cold stone dropped in both Feliciano's and Lovino's bellies. Lovi quickly snatched the picture from the brunette's hands, "This was my grandpa's. Where did you get it?"

"I found it on the beach," said Antonio leaving out the fact that it was still on his person when he did. He turned to Feli who had gone pale and was worrying the hem of his blue shirt, "I overheard you two wondering how we know Spanish. Ludwig taught it to us. He taught me Italian, too and a little bit of German."

"Ludwig is alive?" Feli narrowed his eyes, "Where is he? I want to see him."

"It's kind of a long story…One I'm sure he'll be glad to tell you as soon as we meet up with him."

"Ok, then take me."

Lovi sputtered and pulled his brother back to him before glaring at Antonio, "Three things, bastardo. Who are you? Why should we trust you? And what exactly is your angle here?"

"No angle. I want in."

"In?"

"On the scam."

The brother's exchanged nervous glances before Lovi laughed nervously, "What scam? There's not a scam. Why would you think—why?"

Antonio gave them a sweet smile, "So I can get out."

"Ve," Feli turned to whisper to his brother, "I don't get it. He just said he wants in."

Studying the man before him, Lovi tried to get a reading on his intentions. He sighed and helped Feli off the throne, "Stupid…he wants _in_ so he can get _out_."

"Oh, right..." Feli fiddled with his fingers in a curious manner, "Why?"

At this moment, Antonio wondered whether he should come clean about everything he and his family were facing. He decided against it, figuring that the two angels before him could be spared the horrors the people of El Dorado often faced at the tip top of Adrian's temple. After all they were going to go to a party in a few moments. The last thing his people needed was to see to sour faced Gods. So Antonio placed his bag down and slowly walked towards the two Italians, "You think you're the only ones who dream of a better life? Of adventure? You have your reasons and I have mine. Let's not make it personal, ok? It's just business." As an afterthought Antonio wiggled his brows at Lovino, "Unless you want it be."

"Bite me, jerk."

Antonio ignored the older Italian's remark and continued, "So whenever you two decide to go back to…wherever it is you're from, Ludwig and I will go with you. Deal?"

Feli quickly shoved his hand forward, "Deal!"

"Uh-uh," growled Lovi, smacking Antonio's hand away from his brother's. "No way, perverted bastard. This is a two man operation and, if my calculations are correct, we are already two men full in this gig. That's right, you useless horse, I'm looking at you!"

The black stead turned his large head, his mouth stuffed with apples before flicking his tail in annoyance. Feli pouted, "Ve, but I thought you liked Johan, fratello."

"I like him enough and _you_ really like him which is the only reason why he's still here. But _this_," Lovi stomped over to where the horse was lounging and plucked the round creature that had been following them since their time in the jungle. It had somehow made its way up the temple and had fallen asleep on one of the pillows. Lovino squeezed it, "This damn thing has been stalking us for days now! What the hell is it even?"

"It's a forest imp!" Antonio gently took the abused creature from Lovino and offered it a cherry. It happily took it into its mouth before spitting the seed at Lovi making Feli giggle.

He wandered over to it and patted its smooth head, "He like's you, Lovi~"

"He does," agreed Antonio. The little imp hopped into Feli's arms where it settled in to continue its nap. "But they often travel in pairs. Maybe this one got lost…"

Wiping the seed off his face, Lovino glared, "Doesn't give it the right to steal our hard earned meals."

"The fish bit you on the booty, fratello."

Lovino continued to glare as he crossed his arms over his chest, "As I said. Anyway, I don't like it."

"But they're awfully cute," insisted the taller man. Antonio wrapped an arm around both Italians and grinned, "They say that forest imps are wonderful creatures who are kind and will bring you good luck! My mom always told me that if me or Ludwig ever found one that it meant the gods were smiling down on us. You should keep it and treat it kindly so that when we get out of here we can show it to him."

"What's with this _we_ nonsense?" The older Italian brushed off Antonio's arm and tried to tug Feli towards him.

Feli hesitated, "But Lovi, he knows where Luddy is."

"Yeah, he said he's out there," said Lovi as he motioned the jungle outside the city's walls, "So when you and I get out of here we can find him."

"How are we going to find him?"

"We found this place just fine, didn't we?"

"Well, technically _I_ did... even then, he did sorta led us back here when he—"

"Damn it, fratellino! I don't need to remember _that_." When Lovi was unable to pry his brother from Antonio, he settled for gripping his other arm tightly with his. He jabbed Antonio's chest, "And as for _you_; you ain't coming with us and that's that!"

Antonio panicked internally by his lack of success to persuade the older Italian but he quickly remembered a trick his mom always used on his dad to do chores around the temple. Plus he _really_ wanted to touch Lovi's cheek. He released Feli and wrapped his arms loosely around Lovino's neck before running them down his chest to straighten his vest, "Alright, fine. You don't need me. Ludwig always did tell me that you liked doing things on your own terms."

With a face so red it was almost comparable to a tomato; Lovino couldn't help but gape at Antonio's forwardness. He opened his mouth to lash at him but Antonio cut him off before he could get a word out by squishing his cheeks playfully. Antonio chuckled, "Besides, I'm sure you two know all about the proper rituals for blessing a tribute, the holiest days of our calendar…oh! And obviously you know _all_ about Xibalba." He pushed away from the stunned Italian with a final loving pinch to his cheek and said wistfully, "You're so handsome, Lovi. It'll be a pity…" As he walked away, Antonio added, "See you at the execution."

Feli, having watched the exchanged, was also blushing lightly. He had a small smirk as he petted the forest imp knowing full well that Antonio was attempting to manipulate his brother. However, as soon as he mentioned all the things that the citizens of El Dorado were expecting them to know, the smirk vanished. That was a crap ton of things to know and if they so much as made a wrong move, they would no doubt be sacrificed. Feli hugged the sleeping creature in his arms, "Ve…Lovi, I don't want to die." At his brother's silence he tried again, "Lovi…"

But his brother was still staring after Antonio's retreating figure as if in a trance, a hand slowly coming up to gingerly touch where he'd been pinched. Lovi's lips twitched as if he was fighting a smile before his brain finally registered what both Feli and Antonio said. Shaking his head, Lovi after Antonio, "Wah, uh, wait!"

Antonio bit his lip happily and turned around to face Lovi with an outstretched hand, "Does this mean we have a deal?"

"Si!" Feli reached out to shake his hand but once again Lovi smacked it away.

"Not yet, fratellino." Not one to let someone else get the upper hand on him, Lovi pinched Antonio's cheek, "Let's just see how this works out.

"Uh-huh." Producing two red cubes, Antonio offered them to Lovi, "Well, then I suppose that means you'll want these back?"

Lovi frowned and patted his vest pockets before snatching his die back, "How the hell did you get those?"

"_Where_ were you keeping them," asked Feli as he glanced between Antonio's abandoned satchel next to the pool and the man himself. He frowned, "Your cloth thing doesn't exactly have pockets…"

Antonio waved their concerns away. "Oh, this is wonderful! You won't regret it," he cried cheerfully as he pulled them both into a hug, "Boss Antonio won't let you two down." Pushing the two brothers away, he rushed over to a large basket and pulled out their clothes for them.

"Tch, boss? More like _partner_ in training."

"Uh-huh, that works, I guess. Now here, you need to put these on quickly. You're public is waiting."

Feli looked at his teal clothes then at Antonio as he settled himself on a large floor pillow, "Ve…what about Ludwig?"

"Don't worry about him, amigo. He's safe with my mom and dad. As soon as we're done with this job I'll take you right to him."

"Yay! That's happy~"

Lovi pulled his shirt off and tossed it somewhere. He felt eyes on him as he moved to undo his belt. Smirking to himself, he glanced over his shoulder, "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," cooed Antonio. At Lovi's glare, he giggled sheepishly, "Oh, but _you_ do, huh? Heh, sorry." He got up and dusted straightened his cloth before taking his leave. Licking his lip, he gave a final glance over Lovi before pulling the curtain down, "Bye."

Shaking his head, Lovino allowed himself to smile at Antonio's antics now that he wasn't there to witness it. His brother smiled knowingly and nudged his ribs playfully, "Maybe they should call this place Los Hermosos instead. You think he's pretty, don't you?"

"Heh, yeah, he's pretty damn gorgeo—uh—woah! No, he's trouble! Wait a minute."

"What?"

Lovi dropped his pants and gripped his brother's shoulder's tightly, "The little voice—remember the little voice? J-just for a second, imagine that you have one. What would it be saying about Antonio?"

"Well…if I didn't love Ludwig? Um, I think it would say something like, prrr—"

"No!" Lovi shook his brother to get him to focus, "No. Focus! _We_ are partners."

"We are partners," agreed Feli.

"Uh-huh, and _we_ have a plan, right?"

"Get the gold and go back to Spain."

"Correct. And we're pretending to be gods. Now, put that Antonio into the mix, hell add the potato bastard, too. What is the voice saying?"

Feli sighed as he snapped his teal and gold collar into place, "No fraternization?"

"Oh, thank god. Yes, exactly. No fraternization. Shake on it."

"But Lovi—"

"Shake!"

The younger Vargas pushed thoughts of Ludwig aside. It wouldn't hurt to please his brother; after all it wasn't as if he could fraternize with his sweetheart anyway what with Ludwig being outside the city. He nodded and slid his palm across Lovi's, making a fist and bringing it down on his brother's before his brother repeated the motion and finally lacing their finger's together and pulling away while wiggling their digits.

Lovino released a breath of relief and continued to change into his red cloth while Feli slid his foot through a gold cuff. Feli cooed out a _ve_ as he finally looked into a mirror to put his head dress on, "Besides, we're supposed to be gods. We must avoid…giving into temptation." He looked at the golden band around his finger and blushed, "Plus, now that I know Luddy is alive, I'm pretty sure they think he and I are married~"

"Right..." Lovi struggled to secure his cloth around his hips and gave up, choosing to put on his accessories first, "This whole god thing might be a little harder than I—curse these stupid things! How the hell did you put them on?"

Feli giggled and scooped up them up before wrapping the red cloth around his brother's hips and snapping his bracers on, "Relax, Lovi. All you have to do is smile and act godly." He whistled Johan over and placed a few gold barrettes into his mane, "Just follow my lead, fratello. We'll be just fine."

Outside, Maximo attempted to calm his subjects, "Don't worry. Remember what Ludwig said? They're nice gods, though I suppose that remains to be seen."

"Where _is_ the sun child," asked one of the children as he fiddled with his flute. "I liked Mr. Ludwig."

Maximo hesitated before answering, "I'm…I'm sure he's just preparing himself to greet Lord Feliciano." Movement from the top of the Gods' temple caught his eye. He sighed and forced a smile, "Come on, guys. Big smile…like you mean it. Now, a-one, two three…"

Music traveled up to the two Vargas brothers and Feli grinned excitedly making Lovi shake his head fondly at him. As the descended the stairs, a feat much easier than going up, he muttered in Italian, "I hardly think I'm qualified to come across all sanctified. I just don't cut it with the cherubim." He was greeted at the bottom by Maximo's wife and youngest son. Smiling he patted the boy's head only for him to chomp down on his hand, "Chigi!"

Feli quickly pulled him away and laughed, "Fratello, what are you talking about? " He pointed at their adoring subjects, "There again they're on their knees. Being worshiped is a breeze. Which rather suits us in the interim." His eyes glazed over at the sight of wine and he all but begged his brother to share his bowl with him.

"The interim," asked Lovi as he playfully kept the wine from him.

"The interim." Feli managed to take the bowl and drowned as much as he could, savoring the tangy sweet nectar from the berries they'd used.

"It's me and him. Oh my god!" Lovi ducked as Feli took a torch and spat the remaining wine out to make a ball of fire. That wooed their people so he forgave him. Behind them, Johan climbed down the remaining stairs with the little imp on his head. The two brothers climbed on to get past their sea of admirers.

"It's tough to be a god. Tread where mortals have not trod." Feli jumped off to get his hands on much needed food while Lovi was forced over to another group of citizens. He rolled his eyes as he saw women reach out to touch his brother's modest muscles, "Be deified when really you're a sham."

Feli giggled and waved goodbye to the girls before feeding a golden apple to Johan who had settled down with a group of children to let them groom his mane. The Italian kissed his snout, "Be an object of devotion, be the subject of psalms."

"It's a rather touching notion; all the prayers and those salaams." Lovi danced around the people reaching out to touch him, backing into a stoned monument of him and his brother on a serpent like steed. He squinted at the fine designs scrawled upon the solid gold slab; his eyes widening when he realized that he could understand it. They were little anecdotes of Ludwig's devotion to his brother and mild friendly admiration for him. A few other inscriptions were to their grandfather, to Gilbert and of course Wolfgang.

Lovi felt a pang of sympathy for the German. He'd been alone here all this time with nobody aside Antonio and his family to keep him safe. He faced the growing crowd again and saw Antonio dancing his way towards him with a plateful of food. Perhaps he'd let the bastard in to his little group after all. Maybe.

For now, though, he knew that he'd need to play his part well if they were to get out of this alive. Still…As the group of El Dorado Citizens advanced towards him with their arms outstretched, Lovi's belly suddenly felt like it had butterflies in it. Glancing back at the monument, he pushed the feeling away, "And who am I to bridle if I'm forced to be an idol? If they say that I'm a god, that's what I am."

He wandered over to where Feli was feeding Altivo. Lovi nudged his side and whispered as he pointed to Maximo's soldiers as they sliced open large watermelons with their maquahuitls, "What's more, if we don't comply with the local's wishes, I can see us being sacrificed or stuffed."

Feli nodded, "You have a point, yes, that's very good thinking. So let's be gods." He pulled him down with him onto the pillows around Altivo and waved at Antonio, "The perks are great."

Placing the large platter before the two brothers, Antonio tried to feed sweetened bread to Lovi, "El Dorado on a plate."

"Thank you." The older Vargas swatted the little imp away from the plate only to be admonished by Antonio.

Antonio wiggled his finger in a scolding matter, "Local feelings should not be rebuffed."

"Never rebuff," repeated Feli—_The traitor_, thought Lovino with half-hearted annoyance—"never rebuff a local feeling, no my friend." He pulled his brother back up and started to dance with him. Lovi couldn't help but laugh alongside Feli as they both remarked, "It's tough to be a god, but if you get the people's nod, count your blessings, keep 'em sweet, that's our advice."

"It's great advice!"

"Be a symbol of perfection," cooed Feli.

"Be a legend," added Lovi.

Feli dragged Antonio into their little dance, "Be a cult."

"Take their praise—"

"—take a collection as the multitudes exult.

Antonio took one of the amulets his fellow El Doradian was trying to give the brother's and draped it over Lovi's neck, "Don a supernatural habit; you'd be crazy not to grab it!"

"We got it!"

"So sign on two new gods for paradise...par-a-dise~"

Falling into a fit of drunken giggles, the two Vargas brothers watched as the party carried on in an explosion of colors and festive music. The people of El Dorado danced and sang around them, all of them happy that both their Chief and Ludwig had been right about the two deities. They were totally nice! Maybe a bit weird around the ladies and a little too eager to drink wine instead of the prophesized blood but that was fine by them.

* * *

A smoky scent enveloping El Dorado was the only reminder of last night's celebration with the occasional brightly colored ribbon littering the stone streets. Adrian curled his lip in disgust. Well, no matter. He was sure that the gods shared his feelings on the matter and would delight on the tribute _he_ had in store for them. Particularly Lord Feliciano whom he was sure was all but dying to be reunited with his lover.

Thoughts of how Feliciano and Lovino would reward him made the high priest shiver with glee. Miguel walked up to his uncle and cleared his throat, "Uncle?"

"It's almost time," said Adrian. He straightened his garb and turned to his nephew, "Did the he drink the chocolate?"

"Yes, sir. We denied him water and fed him salt, so he was relieved to have some liquid."

"Excellent. Wrap him up. I'm certain Lord Feliciano will be most pleased to gobble him up." Adrian watched as the citizens of El Dorado made their way to the pavilion. He added, "Don't forget to bring me my best club."

**~.~**

With limbs draped over each other, the two brothers snored softly in ignorance that they were being transported to El Dorado's pavilion. Both were so tired from last night's festivities that they didn't even budge when Antonio gently placed them in their draped litter to allow them a few more moments of sleep. Maximo had informed him of what Adrian had in store for them next though truth be told there really had been no need for him to do so. Antonio was perfectly aware of what Adrian thought the gods wanted. It still didn't make it easy on his stomach to witness. He only prayed that his slumbering angels could bare the horror for a moment or two.

As they finally arrived at the pavilion, Antonio was given a bowl of tiny purple flowers to bless the ground before Lovi and Feli could walk on it. He looked to Maximo who shook his head. Apparently he had sent one of his men to do a count to see who had been unlucky enough to be chosen as the sacrifice but no one had been reported missing. Antonio frowned. Who could it be?

Meanwhile inside the litter, Lovi was beginning to stir. He blinked sleepily at his baby brother's peaceful expression and smiled. Stupid little guy had him wrapped around his finger without realizing it. Just as he reached out to fix his pillow for him, Adrian peeked into their curtain and gave them a cheerful, "Good morning, my lords!" Feli jolted from his sleep and clung to his brother who merely glared at the priest. The glare was wasted on the man for as soon as he greeted them he was out.

Adrian sneered at Maximo, "And now it's _my_ turn." He stepped out onto the platform hovering over a massive whirlpool and declared in a booming voice, "The gods have awakened!"

The brothers were a little disoriented from the sudden roar from the crowd across the pavilion. It didn't help that they suddenly found themselves in a place that not only wasn't the town square, where Feli were pretty sure they passed out, but wasn't even their temple, where Lovi was pretty sure Antonio carried them too. Speaking of which, Lovi brushed the brunette's tanned arm as he nervously tossed tiny flowers around them. He whispered, "Oi, what's going on?"

"…It's not going to be good," whispered Antonio back.

"Gee, thanks."

They watched as Adrian continued to address the people, "This city has been granted a great blessing and what have we done to show our gratitude? A meager celebration." He all but spat out the word in Maximo's direction making the chief's uneasy scowl deepen. "The gods deserve a proper tribute!"

On the other side of the pavilion, the crowd quickly became silent, knowing all too well what the high priest considered a proper tribute. What they didn't know was who Adrian could've possibly have chosen to sacrifice. They gripped at their clothing and murmured quietly to themselves as Adrian's assistants brought out a large silk sac tied together with brilliant blue ribbons and a wreath of flowers and placed it by his feet.

Lovi and Feli exchanged excited glances, both too eager to see what was inside to notice how rigid Antonio became or how Maximo clenched his jaw.

"Beginning a new era, the dawning of a new age, demands sacrifice," exclaimed Adrian. He let his hands hover over the sac, drawing green magic to it. The smell of electricity was thick in the air around the high priest, green spidery light coming off of the sac at his command until it toyed with the ribbons and flowers.

Feli gaped, "This isn't…that can't…Fratello are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"I'm seeing but—Antonio?" Lovino glanced over at their new partner for answers but given how intensely he was staring at what was happening more than he was in awe of Adrian, chances were that this was a normal thing for them. He tore his gaze from the brunette and turned back to Adrian.

"And who better," said the priest as his magic all but ripped open the sac, "than the sun child himself?"

"L-Luddy?" The younger Vargas as he all but fell to his knees upon seeing Ludwig. He'd always dreamed of reuniting with his childhood sweetheart but not like this. It was hard to tell how he looked from where he was standing but Feli could imagine. He felt his brother take a hold of his hand and squeeze in warning for him not to cry or do anything stupid.

Ludwig could barely register the collective gasp from the crowd and Antonio's horrified yelp when he fell out from the sac he was forced into. Not that it had been all that hard. After Adrian had told him that he had been right—right about what he still had no clue—he'd been sent to be cleansed, his skin still felt raw from the excess scrubbing. Not too soon after that, he'd been forced dried meat with far too much salt which had made him too thirsty. It hadn't been until they gave him a large jug of chocolate that he knew what his fate was. After all, chocolate was only given to royals and those unfortunate enough to be chosen for sacrifice to take away fear of the blade.

"F-fratrello," said Feli while tugging on his brother's sleeve, "what's he going to do to him?"

Out of the corner of his eye Lovi saw Antonio hug the bowl of flowers to himself as he stared at his adopted brother in horror. It took a moment for him to put two and two together. When the gravity of the situation finally registered, he felt ill. As much as he disliked Ludwig, for reasons he can't quite remember anymore, he would never wish what of was about to happen on him, much less in front of Feliciano.

The world was spinning in a chaotic display of color around the blonde as he struggled to stand straight. Ludwig lamely tried to pull his wrists from the thick bands of cord cutting into his flesh, giving up after a few pulls. Adrian poked him with his club to force him closer to the ledge, "My Lord, Feliciano. Please accept your lover as he is released from this vile vessel."

Ludwig sleepily furrowed his brow, "F-Feli?"

Raising the club over his head, Adrian waited until Ludwig bowed his head tiredly to strike, stopping only inches away from his head at Lovino's command. He turned around to see him calmly walking up to him while Feli all but rushed over to catch Ludwig before he could fall over fell over. Antonio could only dare to release a breath of relief as Feli struggled to pull Ludwig back to the litter, muttering, "This is _not_ a proper tribute…"

"You don't want the tribute," asked Adrian incredulously.

Realizing his mistake, Feli glanced at his brother, "No, w-we want tribute. It's just that—uh..erm—Lovi, tell him."

Lovino sent Feli an annoyed look before addressing Adrian, "The stars are not in position for this tribute."

"Right," grunted Feliciano, tripping over Ludwig's weight as he continued to drag him, "That's good, fratello. Like he said. Stars. Can't do it... Not today." He finally managed to get him to the litter where he made sure he was comfortable before checking him for any serious injury. _Oh thank goodness_—he thought to himself. Feli griped Ludwig's limp hand in his and brushed his lips over his knuckles, vaguely catching Adrian's apology for misreading the heavens. He tried his best not to glare or overreact to what was _clearly_ a misunderstanding on the high priest's part. Sighing, he allowed Antonio to take his place next to Ludwig and forced himself back to his brother's side, "It's ok. To err is human to forgive."

"My lords!" Maximo motioned towards the temple, "May the people of El Dorado offer you _our_ tribute." Women in green gowns walked out with large platters filled, almost to the point of overflow, with golden items. Lovino felt his heart quicken in pace at such a glorious sight while Feli couldn't help but feel that the shine paled in comparison to seeing Ludwig alive. True he was a little weak at the moment but alive never the less. Not that he would admit such feelings to his brother.

The chief took in their reactions and couldn't help but grin, "Does this please you, my lords?"

"Si," sighed Lovino dreamily. He quickly cleared his throat, "I mean, yes, this is acceptable."

Feli nodded, "It'll do."

"Wonderful!" Maximo picked up a golden chalice and raised it to his people, "The gods have chosen! To Xibalba?"

At the mention of Xibalba, Antonio quickly jerked his head to the two brothers. He'd completely forgot to inform them what exactly that was and what to do in the event they were offered gold. Whispering to one of the temple assistants to alert the healer that Ludwig would be seeing her, he motioned to the brothers to say no. It was lost on the Italians for, in the ignorant joy, they cried out, "To Xibalba!"

"Oh, great," groaned Antonio. Shaking his head he walked over to the duo just as the women started to toss the gold into the whirlpool.

Platter after platter, Lovi and Feli watched the violent swirl of water gobble their precious tribute. Feli rubbed his arm, "Um, Tonio? What are they doing?"

"They're sending it _to_ Xibalba, the spirit world."

"…Spirit world," repeated Lovino numbly. He shook his head and poked Antonio harshly, whispering, "Why didn't you warn us?"

Antonio patted his hand in reassurance, "Don't worry. Boss will handle this." He quickly maneuvered his way back to Maximo, "Um, chief?" Tugging on his arm to get his attention, he motioned towards the two Italians, "The gods have changed their mind about Xibalba. They wish to bask in the reverence that has been shown them."

"Ah, consider it done," said Maximo, "Everyone stop!" Platters of gold froze in mid exchange between the women handling them, a lone plate jumping out of its container in hopes to reunite with its brethren in the waters bellow. Lovi was quick to keep it from jumping. Maximo chuckled, "The wish to bask. Take the tribute to the gods' temple!"

Eager chatter resumed as the people of El Dorado began filing out of the forum across and the women carried the gold back to the temple. Lovi had to admit he was rather pleased with Antonio, smirking at the man as he settled his pace alongside them, "Nice going, bastardo. Maybe you're not useless to us after all."

Feli poked his fingers nervously when he saw men lift the litter and carry Ludwig in the opposite direction. His heart clenched painfully at how raggid his breathing was and he tried to follow but Antonio and Lovino each looped an arm around his to force him forward. He started to shake, "I can't leave him alone. He needs me!"

"It's ok," assured Antonio, "He's safe now. Our healers will send for you when he's stable. For now you must be strong, si?"

"Mm…" Despite what his heart desperately wanted him to do, Feli silently obeyed and allowed them to lead him away.

Behind them, Adrian continued to silently fume at his god's blatant display of favoritism over Maximo. Of course they would want gold. They were dieties of the sun! Gold was the closest thing they would have that would make them feel as if they were still amongst the heavens. As for the sun child, why didn't it occur to him that perhaps Feliciano wanted to devour him in order to free his lover from his body?

He glared at Maximo when he sent him a smug smirk. His nostrils flared in silent anger, hands gripping the handle of his club to the point his dark hands were steadily becoming white. Adrian turned his back to him and started to make his way back to his own temple, "Smile while you can…"

* * *

**Hey guys. I'm sorry for going a little MIA. I was busy getting my things together for applying to nursing school and was studying for the TEAS V exam…which I totally did great on! Everything is in order and all I'm just hoping I'm one of the ones that get called in for an interview for the school. Until then, I'm just here lol! The next chapter shouldn't take me long, mostly because I don't have anything to do but write heh ^_^' I hope I didn't lose you guys, I really am sorry about not updating sooner. Especially since last week I said I would on my tumblr T_T Something came up and I my arm is sorta in a cast so I can't really move it aside from my fingers so I couldn't post it. On the plus side I've gotten used to the cast so I can start typing again. I hope the picture makes up for it. I had it commissioned by an artist from tumblr, this is only a portion because I couldn't get it to completely so up. I have the full sized one along with a link to the artist on my tumblr if you guys want to see it ^_^  
**

**Now about this chapter. I couldn't figure out to incorporate mochi-Italy as a replacement for the armadillo but I actually came up with something that I think will be cute for later in the story. I tried to research lore in Aztec mythical creatures but I couldn't find much so I just decided to make him a forest imp, which I googled a picture of a cute one and found a round ball with wings and figured close enough lol! Anyway I hope it isn't too weird…In the next chapter, Feli and Ludwig will properly reunite. Can't wait to write that! oh! And a little tidbit on human sacrifices lol, they were given a drink made from coco beans to "ease" their fears prior being sacrificed. The drink itself is the ancestor to our modern day hot chocolate.**

**ps-I apologize for any gramatical errors that may have escaped my notice. I'll try to comb over it again. I think I may get a beta to help me with these lol...**

**~Until Next Time (****´ ▽ ` )ﾉ**

**VivaAmerica: I just want to thank you again for your suggestion =) I deeply apologize for such a late update **(╯︵╰,)

**romanos-curl: I must admit, when I watched the movie and the bag that contained the human sacrifice came on, I immediately thought to myself, 'this is how Ludwig and Feli are going to reunite' Mostly because of the blue ribbons made me think of Germany's eyes. Next chapter they'll get more time together to make up for lost time and stuff, I promise. =3 omg! lol I love Gabe in Casa Erotica lol! **

**mimi-chan and aliling-chan: ****No problem** **(✿◠‿◠)**

**Aquanova dragon: lol I can't wait to get to the part where they play the ball game. Poor mochi** **(=ω=;) I love your name btw  
**

**HeroinOfDarkness: He does T_T But don't worry, I'm sure his luck will turn around soon (◡‿◡✿) Very soon hehe**. T**hank you ^_^ and thank you very much for sticking around with me for as long as you have. I look forward for your continued patronship =3**

**pastaadict: They are but I think they'll be just fine =3 They're gods after all, lol what could happen **(o´ω｀o)

**zoewinter1: I just realized that it's been five chapters in and those two haven't been together yet. The reunion wasn't happy but the date they're going to have next chapter will totally make up for it...I hope  
**

**RagnarokVodka: Oh thank you so much! (≧ω≦) I was thinking about writing an Aladdin one. I was thinking maybe with nyo! Gerita. But if you have a recommendation for a pairing, I'd love to hear it =3**

**Peryton: Thank you, I'm glad you do ( ^▽^) I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.**

**ProcrastinatorXD: Oh, Gee, I'm happy that you're liking it lol (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ the only thing though...I'm so worried that you and everyone else may not like how I reunited them.  
**


	6. A Treasure Greater Than Gold

***Lower's chapter via fishing pole***

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

Years of military school and a strong control over his body where the only things keeping Gilbert from showing how terrified he was. After finding out that Lovino and Feliciano took a hearty chunk from their supplies, Lars had been livid. Impressed that they managed to do all that _and_ take Johan with them without waking the ship up, yes, but livid all the same. He'd all but threatened—ok, no. He _did_ threaten his crew.

When they'd arrived at Cuba to resupply, Cortez had been none too pleased to hear that his mount had not survived the trip let alone that they had to buy extra supplies and a new row boat because they lost them in the storm. Lars pressed his dagger to one of his crew member's side and reminded him of his earlier threat when he sniggered and mumbled something about that not being the only thing they'd lost.

And yet, that wasn't why Gilbert was afraid.

While the rest of the crew pulled their stuff to shore, Gilbert and Francis followed Lars to take a look around the beach. They froze when they stumbled upon a row boat baring the Spanish seal. Lars had paled visibly and glanced over towards Cortez who was slowly making his way towards shore in a row boat. Shifting his gaze back to the boat he hissed angrily at Gilbert, "Those two idiots actually made it! What are we going to do? How the hell am I going to explain this?"

He grabbed Gilbert by his collar and shook him, "I will _not_ be sent to the brig, or worse, shipped to Cuba to live the rest of my life as a slave on a damned sugar plantation because I let them escape!"

"Let go of him," cried Francis as he wrapped a hand around his commanding officer's wrist. He held it firmly and looked around them to make sure their ruckus hadn't drawn unwanted attention. Trying to pry Lars away from Gilbert, Francis motioned towards Cortez, "He's been complaining since we left Cuba about this expedition."

"What do you mean?"

"He believes that the king and queen have invested too much on the legendary city and that this whole trip will be a waste of time. He wants to go further north along the coast to explore other areas."

Lars looked back over to Cortez with a frown, "Do…do—You don't suppose that he'll allow me to lead…" He trailed off, muttering to himself under his breath, his grasp on Gilbert loosening as his frown smoothed. With a nod, he pushed Gilbert and Francis towards the boat, "Help me get this thing into the water. I'm going to go speak with Cortez."

"Uh, and tell him what exactly," asked Francis. He pushed the boat while Lars pulled, "Did you figure something out?"

"Yeah."

"Aren't you going to tell us?"

Lars rolled his eyes, "Jeez, I'm going to tell him to let me explore this damn jungle. Pray to whatever god you worship that he'll allow it." As soon as the boat touched water, Lars took up an oar and pushed himself away, "And I suppose that I'll ask if you can come along, Bonnefoy."

Francis watched the exchange between the two high ranking officers while Gilbert turned back to the jungle. After a few minutes, Lars gave them a discreet thumbs up and the blonde sighed in relief. Cortez shouted something to his men and his rowboat turned around to go in the opposite direction while his ship slowly followed after him.

"We are charged to find El Dorado," shouted Lars as he neared the shore, "Men, gather your weapons and extra amo; there's no telling what kind of beasts lurk in the jungle."

And there it was.

_That_ was what was scaring Gilbert, and now that he was alone with his friend, he wasn't afraid to let it show on his face. Francis draped an arm around his shoulders, "What's wrong, mon ami? You should be glad things worked out."

"I'm worried about Feli and Lovi," said Gilbert as he absently patted his bird, "What if they got lost? Lars is right. We have no idea what kind of things are in the jungle; what if it claimed them?" The German felt his muscles tense with worry, "I'll never forgive myself if they died in there all alone."

Francis squeezed his friend in a side hug, "Don't fret. It'll take a lot more than a jungle to best those two. Why, I bet they found the lost city and have the heathens eating from their delectable little hands."

* * *

The last thing Ludwig remembered feeling was Adrian's club dig into his back to encourage him to take a step forward while saying, "_My Lord, Feliciano. Please accept your lover as he is released from this vile vessel_."

"Feliciano," he croaked, his throat feeling as if he had eaten sand. It slowly registered in Ludwig's mind that he was lying on something soft. Was he on a bed? Was he in heaven? If so…where was his angel?

Cracking an eye open, Ludwig's hazy vision slowly focused on a pair of worried tanned face. He sighed, "Antonio's here…I must be in hell." He managed a small smirk as Antonio gasped and slapped his arm.

"You!" The brunette lifted Ludwig into a hug with a relieved chuckle, "You idiot! You must be feeling super good if you're saying silly things like that. Here," Antonio reached for a coconut and shoved it against Ludwig's mouth, "Drink."

The cool water against his lips prompted Ludwig to take the coconut from his brother and gulp it down. Digging his tongue into the fruit, he tried to get every last drop in hopes to sooth his throat. He went as far as sucking the moisture from the sides, tossing it when Antonio offered another. When his thirst was satisfied, Ludwig leaned back in bed with a sigh. He glanced at Antonio tiredly, "I don't feel so good."

"I know. You should rest for a bit."

"How—"

"Where are mom and dad," interrupted Antonio.

"Safe." A shiver went down Ludwig's spine and Antonio moved away to get another blanket while Ludwig pulled the one he already had tighter around his frame, "The guards chased us but I split away so they'd follow me instead. It worked 'cause as soon as they caught me no one went after them."

"They were awfully quick to prepare you for sacrifice."

"Adrian was going to kill me first but Miguel came and told him something that changed his mind." Frowning, Ludwig looked at the blue stains on his arms, "They took me to get cleansed and painted. They even gave me chocolate." Glancing up at Antonio, he asked, "What happened that changed their mind? And why didn't they kill you?"

At this, Antonio grinned, "I almost forgot, Luddy, something wonderful has happened!"

"What?"

As Antonio gently told his brother how Feliciano and Lovino arrived to their golden so to not over excite him—though really, how can he tell Ludwig that his childhood sweetheart, the man who held his heart to this day, was so close to him and not expect him to get excited—he watched how his eyes were getting bright with hope.

Ludwig felt his chest tighten, painfully trying to remind him that he needed to breath, and his mouth fought between wanting to stay parted and morph into a grin. Was this true? Sitting up too quickly, the blood rushed to Ludwig's head and he suddenly felt dizzy.

"Luddy," called Antonio with a poke to his cheek. He poked again, "Luddy, are you ok?"

A dark skinned girl entered the room and glared at Antonio as she rushed to Ludwig's side to check his pulse, "What did you do?"

"I—nothing! I just told him about Feliciano and—"

"Aww," cried Michelle, "He must've passed out from joy. It's ok, I have some herbs for this." She sighed happily while crushing the herbs to set on fire for Ludwig to breathe in, "It must be wonderful to have a soul mate that will love you no matter what form you take."

"Eh?"

"Si~ Lord Feliciano doesn't care if his beloved is in a fleshy vessel, male or female. He couldn't stand the sight of him being put in danger. That's why he and his brother stopped the high priest from killing him, right? I bet that's why he also took on the appearance of a human too. He wants to be close to the sun child."

Antonio blinked slowly, trying to process everything the medic said before nodding, "That…yeah, that's right."

"Do you think Lord Lovino has a soul mate in El Dorado, too?"

"Eh?!"

Michelle scowled and pointed her golden spatula at Antonio, "Don't give me that look. It's possible, right? Maybe our God will find someone how holds his heart in our glorious city." She returned her attention to her patient, "Besides, if Ludwig was born a demi god, who's to say that another wasn't born here too. There are plenty of fine men and women here; one is bound to catch his eye."

Before he could sputter out a reply, a knock on the medical hut pulled Antonio's attention away from Michelle. One of the men from Chief Maximo's personal guard smiled sheepishly at Antonio, "Sorry for the intrusion but the walk through the city is about to start and Lord Lovino requested that you go see him before it does."

Antonio pointed to himself, "Me?"

"That's right. He seemed rather…anxious when you didn't return. Lord Feliciano doesn't seem all too happy either." The guard glanced over his shoulder before whispering in a tiny voice, "Please go to them as soon as possible. I really don't want them to make the smoking mountain blow up again."

"But Ludwig—"

"Will be just fine," said Michelle. She gently nudged him out the door, "These herbs will soothe him and after a good nap, he should be good as new."

Antonio reluctantly left his brother behind and followed the guard to the heart of the city where Lovino was whispering to Feliciano in Italian. He caught his eye and smiled warmly, mentally smirking at the slight blush that graced Lovi's cheek. They maintained eye contact until a couple of temple maidens swooped in to shower him with more gold trinkets. The sight aroused a sour feeling in Antonio's belly, Michelle's words from earlier resonating in his mind.

He watched as the maidens batted their lashes at the older brother and he couldn't help but clench his fists at his sides. Were they all seriously going to try and flirt with Lovino? It wasn't as if they weren't nice girls, because they totally were but…Clenching his jaw, Antonio made sure to catch Lovi's eye before turning around to make his way to their temple.

That was fine. If Lovi wanted to flirt with those girls then by all means Antonio was going to let him. He'd have his chance to woo the hot headed Italian soon enough. After all, he was positive he had something that those girls didn't, the actual desire to win over the man's heart that came as a result of growing up hearing all those stories from Ludwig.

* * *

Lovino watched Antonio turn around and walk away feeling a bit disappointed that the brunette decided against talking to him. The feeling numbed when he was presented with a platter food. He took it from the temple maiden with a grateful grin, "Thanks. Er, do you know why Antonio is going to the temple? I thought he was going to be in the parade with us."

One of the girls stood straighter, "I believe he's going to purify your tribute, my lord. We've all touched it so," she trailed off as she shyly glanced at her hands, "Well, we've been cleansed but you never know what kind of filth we mortals can have and Lord Adrian said—"

As if he were the devil himself, Adrian appeared as soon as his name was uttered. Lovi tensed in the older man's presence, "Oh, uh, hello."

Adrian bowed, "Hello again, my lord. Are you and Lord Feliciano ready to grace us with your presence?" The priest eyed the litter critically, scraping at the pillars holding the elegant teal drapes up, "That damn Maximo…this is beneath you. If it pleases you, Lord Lovino, please allow me to get my people to build you another litter, one that is worthy of your excellence!"

Feliciano poked his head out impatiently, "Are we doing this or not? I want to see my Ludwig."

"O-of course. Forgive me, I didn't mean—"

"It's fine," muttered Feli with a dismissive wave, "Let's just start."

Lovi shrugged at Adrian, "You heard my brother. Let's start this thing." He jumped into the litter and pulled the drapes down for some privacy. A few moments went by before he turned to Feli, "Way to go, fratellino. I thought we'd never get rid of him, haha!"

The litter was lifted and a roar of cheers engulfed them without them having to open the drapes. Could it be that the people of El Dorado were satisfied with just being in their presence? If so, then this con would be the best, if not easiest they've ever pulled. And just knowing what awaited them in their temple was enough to make Lovino laugh heartily, "Oh my god, Feli! I can't believe how fucking lucky we are. We have tons of god, fratello! Tons of it!"

Lovi looked at the trinkets the maidens had gifted him and pulled a delicate golden flower to place behind Feli's ear, "Tons of gold for you." He took a coin for himself and flicked it in the air, "Tons of gold for me," then he reached for some golden colored—whatever was on the food platter—and tried to feed Feli some after he tasted it, "tons of gold of we, hehe~"

But Feli wasn't really feeling as great as his brother clearly was. He halfheartedly took the flat bread from Lovi but kept it in his hand.

"What's with you?" Lovi helped himself to more food, "Fratello, we just became richer than the freaking king of Spain!"

"Ve…"

Frowning, Lovi finished off his treat before scooting closer to his brother. He wrapped an arm around his shoulder and gently shook him, "What's wrong? This whole thing was technically your idea. And look; for once we've actually hit the mother load!"

"Well, yeah," said Feli sadly, "but Luddy—Ludwig's been here this whole time. He's been here all by himself and all I want right now is to be with him. I mean, there's so much we need to catch up on."

Lovi felt his eye twitch. Admittedly, finding Ludwig in the middle of a new world had not been in his plans; the odds of that having happened were a million to one. But it had, and now that he thought of it, how the hell did that fit in with their plans? Was he going to expect a free ride back home? Was he going to want a cut of their gold? What about the other one—Antonio? Things were so much easier to think through when it was just him and Feliciano damn it!

"Did you hear me, Lovi?"

"No, sorry. What did you say?"

Feli bit his lip before repeating himself, "I asked if it was ok to take Luddy back home with us when we get back to Spain. We _are_ taking him, right?"

Tch. Why did he have to ask him that in such a pitiful voice? Lovi's eyes widened when Feli suddenly latched himself around his waist and started to crying, "Please, Lovi, please! I don't want to leave him behind. Please, can't we take him home with us? It would make me so happy to have him home."

An unpleasant twitch in Lovi's stomach gave way to him suddenly trying to pull his brother off of him. He only managed to make Feli loosen his hold on him, "It would make you _happy_?"

"A-and Gilbert, t—"

"Are you saying that _I_ don't make you happy?" Lovi waited until Feli looked up before he said, "What about all these years? Are you telling me that I've never once made you happy?"

"Fratello, you know I didn't mean it like that!"

"What _did_ you mean then?"

"I…" Feli teared up again, suddenly feeling guilty for his selfish for his behavior. It was just that every repressed desire to hold, talk to, and _be_ with Ludwig was waking up and taking over his senses. They made him feel very much like every nerve in his entire being was left raw and only he could soothe him. He glanced up at Lovino from beneath his lashes. Lovi was starting to get impatient with him but beneath the frustration in his eyes, Feli could see that there was also hurt.

Biting back a sigh, Feli kissed his brother's cheeks, "I haven't forgotten our promise, fratellone. I know we wouldn't have made it this far if you hadn't taken care of us. Even before Gilbert took us in, I was never worried about not surviving as long as I had you."

"Hm…"

"No, it's true!" Feli pulled away from Lovi and smiled, "You always took very good care of me and I know you still do and that's why finding Luddy is bothering you. This changes things doesn't it? I mean how are we even going to explain us wanting to go back to Spain or even take all this back with us?"

Lovi's eyes widened in realization while Feli's voice grew faint to him; his younger brother had a point. How _were_ they going to get all their treasure back to Spain? He munched on an apple slice as he pondered this, Feli suddenly said, "Not to mention that weird high priest probably won't let us go so easily but maybe if we mention it to Chief Maximo…maybe we can work their little 'my dick is bigger than yours' game to our advantage."

Outside, the men holding the litter had to get a better grip on the handles when it suddenly started to shake in their grasps. They exchanged nervous glances; were their lords displeased with something? Well, just in case they were, they lifted them a bit higher and walked faster. Perhaps they were getting restless and wanted to go back to their temple to enjoy their gold in peace…

Back inside, Feli was slapping Lovi's back as his brother struggled to cough his apple back up. The younger Italian gave a particularly hard slap on his back and cried out, "Ve! Are you ok, Lovino? Breath!"

"Oh god," gasped Lovi in between coughs, "you did _not_ just say that."

"What? It's true though, isn't it?"

When his breathing came back, Lovi laughed, "Yeah, I guess it is. You know, I think you're on to something, fratellino."

"I am?"

"Si~ The answer to our problem is simple. All we have to do is keep playing one against the other. While they make us a boat, we'll just continue this act. It should be relatively easy so long as we just chant some mumbo jumbo, do a little god dance and dazzle them with smoke and mirrors."

"Plus we have Antonio to help us," added Feli excitedly, his moment of sadness temporarily extinguished. He giggled at the blush on his brother's cheeks from the mention of their partner in training but didn't point it out. When their parade through El Dorado ended, the two brothers quickly went in search of the Chief.

The man wasn't hard to find; they found him walking towards his home in the company of whom they assumed was the city's medic. Michelle bowed to Maximo before taking her leave and Lovi took the opportunity to jog up next to him. He reached out and brushed his shoulder, "Er, excuse me?"

"Hm?" Maximo's eyes widened a fraction before bowing to the Italians, "My lords, I wasn't expecting to see you so soon after the parade. I thought that perhaps you would be dwelling amongst your tribute."

Lovi waved the thought away, "Nah, we have plenty of time to do that later. We actually have something we'd like to discuss with you." He motioned towards Maximo's home, "Shall we?"

"Uh, sure—I mean, of course, my lord! My house is your house."

The chief led them through an outdoor corridor and into his throne room where he gently shooed his children away before taking a seat. Lovi and Feli quickly sat across from him, Feli giving the youngest a warm smile before turning his attention to Maximo and his brother. Their conversation soon bored him however and he decided to look around the throne room instead.

It was covered in thick vines as if the foliage had wanted to take back its home but the way it was incorporated into the walls led Feli to believe that perhaps that wasn't exactly so. Gold tiles were tastefully laid upon cobalt bricks making the room look regal and, like his and Lovi's temple, pillows were carefully arranged on the floor near a small pool of water. He wondered if the other homes in El Dorado had little pools of water in them as well. As a matter of a fact, Feli started to wonder what all wonderful things El Dorado had to offer. Oh! He bet their medicinal practices were so different to the ones back home. What he wouldn't give to be able to ask and learn…

"And you feel the same way, Lord Feli," asked Maximo curiously.

Feli was drawn back to the conversation, "I'm sorry?"

"I was just telling the good chief here that we have urgent business in the spirit world," said Lovino through a tight grin, "and that we really hate to be ascending so soon but as we always say in the spiritual plane: there's your plan and then there's the—uh, the god's plan."

"Oh! Oh, yes. Unfortunately, chief, our plan calls for a boat. It's family matters, you know? We can't really ignore them cause then it's like badda-bing, badda boom, you know what I mean?"

Maximo stared between the two brothers in confusion, "I think I do...It's just that, we expected you to be staying with us for the next thousand years." Shaking his head, he leaned back in his seat, "No matter, but may I ask why you need a boat?"

"Lovi?"

The urge to roll his eyes was strong but Lovino fought it as he quickly explained, "Yes, well, you see we're going to be going in a kind of horizontal pattern at first." He made a mental note to smack his brother when they got back to the temple when he heard him try to disguise a chuckle behind a cough and continued, "Then we're gonna go vertical, uh, as we get further out to sea."

Maximo nodded in understanding, "I see. But you know, in order to build a boat large and glorious enough would take…about a week, I think."

"A week?"

"Ve," cooed Feli as he exchanged glances with Lovi, "How long do you think it would take Adrian to do it, fratello?" He bit back a smirk when Maximo quickly said that, for them, he could have it done within three days. His brother however was less than pleased if his annoyed grunt was anything to go by. He discretely elbowed him and smiled politely at Maximo, "If that's the best you can do…

"Hm," hummed Maximo thoughtfully, "Perhaps if you were not burdned with so much tribute, you could leave sooner."

"I like it here, Feli," said Lovino quickly before Feli could get a word out, "Three days is just fine~" He thanked Maximo for understanding and all but dragged his brother back to their temple. The climb up was more bearable than their first attempt, this time they only felt it in their knees, when Lovino let out a string of curses as he collapsed onto a chaise.

Antonio, who had been keeping busy by sorting the gold into piles depending on what it was, glanced over his shoulder, "Rough day at work, mi cielo?"

Rubbing his eyes, Lovi mumbled "You have no ide—" He caught himself from responding to such a domestic question and flushed, going even redder when Antonio started to laugh. Annoyance settled in his belly as he snapped, "Never mind that. We have a problem!"

"What's wrong?" Antonio pulled out a couple of gold bangles from the pile and offered them to the seething Italian, "Can boss help?"

Feliciano leaned against the wall with an amused grin when Lovi started to pull off Antonio's green bangles, "I don't think he meant if you could help put those on his wrists, Lovi."

"Chigi!" Lovi slipped the bracelets on Antonio's wrists regardless, subconsciously running his thumb pads over the tops of the brunette's hands before letting go, "This isn't funny, Feli! How the hell are we supposed to keep this up for three days?!"

"You worry too much."

"No! No, I worry exactly the right amount. You can never worry too much." Biting his lip, Lovino came up with a decision, "Ok, I'm positive we can do this. We just have to lie low and everything will be ok."

"Aw, but Lovi, this place is amazing! Not to mention I need to go see Luddy. Maybe if he's all better, then we can go explor—"

"Don't you dare, Feliciano Vargas!"

"But I didn't—"

"Uh-uh, I know you and I know what you're thinking. Don't even move."

"Lovi, you can't be serious." Feli grinned and tried walking towards his brother only to freeze when Lovi pointed to the ground.

"You're moving!"

"A little, yes, but—"

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

"Come on!"

"Stay!"

"I gotta—I—What about Ludwig?!"

"What did I just say?"

"But—"

Groaning in frustration, Lovi waved his arms around to get Feli to understand how serious he was, "Just, stand there."

Amber eyes widened in horror, "For _three_ days?!"

"Si, that's exactly what I want! For three days, don't even breathe, ok?"

The two engaged in a small staring contest before Feli smiled and leaned against the wall overlooking the city, "Yeah, alright. We'll lie low."

"Yeah right, like I don't know you. Promise me, bastardo! Promise you'll do as I say."

Rolling his eyes, Feli lifted his pinky in the air, "Ve…"

"Thank god. Ok, good. Now if you'll excuse me," Lovi turned his back on his brother and made his way towards the piles of gold, "I'm going to use this time to gloat over my gold." Winking at Antonio, he took the platter from him and went to start filling it with all the things he wanted from the various piles.

Antonio's eyes lingered on Lovi's bent over form. The tops of his hands still tingled from where he'd touched them. Hell, if that was just a sample of what the Italian's touch could do, he wanted to see if Lovi was capable of making the rest of him tingle as well. But first…

He silently walked up to the younger Vargas so to not startle him, "Hola~"

"Hey, Antonio," murmured Feli, not wanting to give his brother a reason to start scolding him again.

"You really want to see Ludwig don't you?"

"Si, more than anything."

Looking over his shoulder to make sure Lovi was distracted, Antonio pulled out a tiny piece of paper and handed it to him, "You should go. This is where the medical hut is."

"Ve, grazie, but what about my brother? I really don't want to upset him."

"Don't worry," whispered Antonio with a grin, "I'll keep him distracted."

Feli took the paper with a grateful smile and paused to give Antonio a knowing look, "He's attracted to you, too, you know." When the brunette's grin widened, Feli reached out to touch his shoulder, "But don't do anything if you aren't serious about him. Despite how he is, he can be very fragile so don't hurt him."

"Don't worry, Feli. I wouldn't dream of hurting him. Ludwig told me stories about you two and I know how he can be. Now go before he turns around."

"Ve~ Okie dokie, I'll see you two later." Making sure the paper was safe in his pocket, Feli crept towards the entrance of their temple, loudly asking, "So… what happened to Johan?"

"I don't know."

Antonio made himself comfortable on the chaise and pretended to fiddle with his gold bracelets while Feli made his escape. Butterflies fluttered in his belly. So Lovi had a thing for him too, huh? Well, that little tid bit was going to make things a lot more interesting. He watched Lovi play with their gold and smiled.

"_Wow, Luddy, we sure dodged a tiny metal ball," cried Antonio as the teen climbed onto his adopted brother's bed. _

_The young blonde was lying on his side. He said, "It's a bullet, Toni. We dodged a bullet."_

"_What's a bullet?"_

"_It's a—" Ludwig looked over his shoulder, chuckling when he caught sight of Antonio's grin. _

"_Eeh, I knew that would get you to smile." The smile slowly vanished when Ludwig turned onto his side again. Leaning over his shoulder, he tried to see what his brother was looking at. In his hand, Ludwig had a painting of Lovino and Feliciano together. _

_Ludwig sighed, "Do you think he still remembers me?" _

"_I do," said Antonio firmly, "There is no way that someone as sweet as him could ever forget his first love." _

"_Hm."_

"_What about Lovi?"_

"_What about him?"_

"_Do you miss him too?"_

"_Honestly? I guess, a little. He was kind of mean to me though so I don't really miss that."_

"_I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." Antonio reached out for the painting and laid back down, poking at Lovino's chubby cheek, "I bet he grew up to be a handsome man!"_

"_I guess…"_

"_Tell me more about him." When Ludwig groaned in annoyance and tried to take his picture back, Antonio held it firmly and begged, "Please! Please, please, please, please, plea—"_

"_Alright, alright! Jeez. He's not a bad guy."_

"_Uh-huh."_

_Ludwig stared at Antonio's excited green eyes and resisted rolling his. What could he say? The only memories he clung to were those of Feli. Then again, where Feli was, his big brother Lovi wasn't too far behind. Neither was his own for that matter. Gilbert and Lovino always did get along didn't they? _

"_I remember, there was this one time when my big brother wanted to play ball with some of the other kids but they didn't want him on their team because he was born an albino. Even for us with fair skin, Gilbert was different. My dad loved him all the same but others thought he was a demon; he even has reddish eyes."_

"_He sounds beautiful."_

"_He was…is." Shaking his head, Ludwig continued, "Anyway, Lovino never cared about things like that. He cared more about a person's capabilities and way of being. So he'd always let him play on his team but mostly that made the other kids switch to the other kid's team. They'd still play against them, though."_

"_Would they win?"_

"_God no," said Ludwig with a laugh. "Actually, more often than not, they ended getting beat up and Feli and I would have to clean them up before my dad and their grandpa saw them. Say what I say about him, Lovino is pretty great. You just have to get past his layers, look beyond his grumpiness and be able to see that deep down, he can be just as sunny as Feliciano."_

_Painted amber eyes stared into Antonio's own as he let what Ludwig told him settle in. He poked the cheek again, "I'm glad you love Feliciano," he said after a while. He didn't need to look at the teen next to him to know that he was giving him a confused look. Without looking away from Lovi's eyes, he smiled softly, "I'm glad you love Feli because I think I'm falling in love with Lovi." _

"Ba-ba, paradise," sang Lovi as he made his way back over to where he left his brother. Antonio broke out of his reverie and bit back a grin. Through the stories Ludwig would tell him, he'd fallen in love with the idea of Lovino. But now, oh now. Now he had him in the flesh and he was just as wonderful as Ludwig described him.

Lovi blinked in confusion, "Oi, what happened to Feli?"

"I don't know," said the brunette innocently.

Dropping his platter of trinkets, Lovi exploded, "Oh my god, he's gone?! Feli's gone! He's loose! What the hell am I going to do?" His chest constricted and he started to fan himself, "Oh no! No, stupid little brothers. Oh, my heart. Oh god, I think I need to sit down…"

It was amusing to see Lovi run around in panic. Antonio moved out of the chaise to let the Italian sit, "Wow, Feli was right." He traced Lovi's neck as he moved around the stand behind him, "You worry too much." His hands gently kneaded the tension away until Lovi's groans of frustration slowly turned in to appreciative moans.

Warm hands dipped under Lovi's shirt to massage his shoulders before making their way back up to rub his head. Antonio accidently brushed along Lovi's curl making him jerk away, "Oi, w-w-wait a minute! Hehe, um, yeah, time out!"

"Did I do something wrong?"

"N-no, not exactly."

"You didn't like what I was doing, then?"

"Uh, that…no, I-I did, it's just that—urgh!" Lovi ran a hand through his hair and looked away, "Listen to me you bastard, we're in the middle of a con here, walking the razor's edge if you will." He grabbed Antonio's hand and pointed to his bracelet, "On one hand, gold." Without letting go he nodded towards a graphic mural of a man being speared through the chest, "And on the other, painful, agonizing failure."

Despite the blush on his face, Lovi managed an apologetic grin as he patted Antonio's shoulder, "I can't exactly afford and tempta—er, distractions. So I'm sorry—," he trailed off when the brunette shrugged and walked back around to sit back on the chaise, the muscles of his bare back rippling as he leaned forward for a glass of wine, "…_so_ sorry."

Lovi inhaled sharply, "Right! So, maybe another time? Another place?"

A little drop of berry red wine escaped the corner of Antonio's mouth as he glanced up to meet Lovi's gaze. He made sure amber eyes stayed on him when he slowly licked his lips clean, not bothering to clean the trail the little drop made down his neck. Antonio leaned forward again, this time arching his back to reveal the fact that he had little dimples near the small of his back and said, "That's too bad, I'm free now." He heard Lovi squeak from behind him and he knew that he saw them.

"I-I'm not really sure I trust you…"

"Mmm? I'm not really asking you trust me, am I?"

Tossing all caution aside, Lovi wiped his trembling hands on his shirt in hopes to dry them of sweat before reaching forward to touch Antonio's bronze skin.

His skin was the closest thing to heavenly Lovino has ever touched. With a little more pressure just under the neck, he managed to make him moan in appreciation. Lovi watched him melt against his touch and could practically feel his pupils dilate.

* * *

Ludwig groaned when he felt gentle fingers running through his hair. His body didn't feel refreshed as he slowly woke up but at least it wasn't aching anymore. Yawning, he stretched in his bed before rubbing the bleariness from his eyes. He groaned again as he rolled onto his side, his head falling onto a lap instead of his pillow. Wait, a lap?

Glancing up, Ludwig saw a face he never though he'd see again. Feli smiled softly at the blonde and continued to run his fingers through his hair, "Ve~" The blonde didn't dare break eye contact as he slowly sat up in fear that this was a hallucination but when Feli reached out to cup his cheek, he couldn't help but push forward and embrace him. Feli hugged him back just as tightly and twisted so that he could get his legs wrapped around him too.

They could feel their hearts beating rapidly against each others chest, each having a million things they wanted to say to each other but at that moment, neither had the voice to say anything out loud. Just like neither had the will or desire to pull away from each other.

And yet, Feli was first to do so. His heart broke a little as Ludwig tightened his hold on him and buried his face in Feli's neck with a whimper. He rubbed soothing circles into Ludwig's back, and murmured, "It's ok, Luddy. It's ok, I'm not going anywhere. It's ok, bello, it's ok." He continued to coo at Ludwig until he could pull away enough to see him. Feli smiled at him and whispered, "See? I only needed to lean back a little."

"Why," asked Ludwig, trying and failing to repress his need to pull his childhood sweetheart back against him.

"Ludwig?"

"Ja?"

"Do you remember what I gave you to remember me by?" Ludwig gave into his tears and nodded with a shy smile. Feli pressed their foreheads together and smiled through his own tears, "Do you think we could do that again?"

"Yes." Laughing, Ludwig nodded again, "Gods yes."

Like when they were children, their lips met in a small peck. Unlike when they were children, that small peck became two. Then three. Then four. On the lips, on the cheeks, on everything they could get them on before meeting once again and that small peck became more daring.

Those millions of things that neither could voice? They soon found that sometimes you didn't have to say anything at all. Sometimes you could say everything with a kiss.

And what Ludwig had to say to him as he cupped the back of his head to deepen the kiss was a treasure greater than gold.

* * *

**Hello! It's been too long guys. I'm sorry for the hiatus. I hope that some of you are still interested in this story, I know I am. So, alot of things has happened over these past few months. One of them being me being accepted as a nursing student. Preparations for that has taken up alot of my time but I promise to finish this story before school starts because to be honest, I have no idea what my scheduled is going to look like in regards to writing and I really don't want to leave my stories unfinished. I've already started on the next chapter for this story and I hope to have it finished by Wednesday. I think Ludwig and Feli have alot of catching up to do, yes?  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has left me a review, favorited this story and added it to their favorites. To be honest, all of them, every single one, make me very happy. I'm a little scared that I won't do well in Nursing because I know it's going to be tough and sometimes I feel like I'm not good enough and the fact that I became a student of nursing was just luck. But reading your kind words about my writing and story telling abilities makes me feel good about myself, so thank you. Thank you very much! Another update is going to be on The Conjuring story, so keep a look out for that. I literally only need a few more paragraphs on that.  
**

**~Until Next Time**

**HeroinOfDarkness : I'm so sorry for the wait! The Romance between our two couples is officially commenced~ **

**VivaAmerica: Thank you! Oh, gosh! I'm sorry for making you guys wait o(╥﹏╥)o lol, yes it is pretty funny seeing Lovi being manipulated like that lol! It's ok, I didn't mind the suggestion lol. It actually occurred to me late in the game to make Adrian the Aztec nation and Miguel Mexico lol!**

**romanos-curl: I'm very happy I was able to make your night. I hope this update made you just as happy. *bows down and presses face to the floor* Please forgive the tardiness of this chapter! Lol, how did the Spamano flirting fare in this chapter? I hope you liked it lol, though, I think this time, it was more like seduction. Did you like the Gerita reunion?  
**

**pastaaddict: Thank you for wishing me luck! I'm going to need it...I can't get anything worse than a B+ in any of my classes so it's going to be tough. I hope you enjoyed this story and thank you so much for supporting my stories. LHNR might take a little while to be updated but I really hope to get it up before school starts as well as The Conjuring. As for this one, I really hope you enjoyed this update.  
**

**RagnarokVodka: So sorry for taking forever! I hope this chapter made up for it. I'm sorry if I ruined the movie for you T_T For the Aladdin story, I still have a while to figure out the pairing. I'll do another poll to see what you guys would like =)**

**Nekolover3: It's been updated ^_^**


	7. Without Question

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

"Mm, Luddy," cooed Feli in between kisses, giggling when Ludwig nipped at the junction of his neck and shoulder before the blond trailed his lips along his jaw. He giggled again, "Lud—" Ludwig silenced him with one last kiss and finally pulled away, making sure to keep some sort of physical contact. Feli noticed this and smiled sadly, "I'm really here, Luddy. This is real."

Ludwig brushed his fingers over his face just to confirm one last time. His finger pads traced the smooth skin of Feli's cheek, briefly dancing across his now flushed lips, down his neck until it stopped over his heart. The rhythmic beating under his fingers assured him that, yes, Feliciano Vargas was indeed with him and this hadn't been some beautiful dream.

"I'm sorry," said Ludwig as he laced their fingers together, "I just…I thought I would never see you again."

"It's ok. I thought the same, but," Feli gently squeezed his hand, "I did dream. I'm so happy I found you."

"Me too, liebe."

It was only then that Feli caught sight of a familiar golden band around Ludwig's ring finger. The Vargas family seal was stamped onto it just like the ones his grandfather had given Lovi and him before his departure all those years ago. Ludwig noticed that Feli was staring at it and he moved to take it off but Feli stopped him, "Don't. He gave it to you, didn't he?"

"I…yes. Before the ship went down."

"Then it's yours."

There was a brief moment of silence between them as they each took in how much the other had grown. On Ludwig's part, Feli noticed that he had grown to be just as tall, if not a little taller, as Wolfgang. He tried to stifle a chuckle. Wouldn't Gilbert be amazed? The man would probably grumble about how his sweet little _West_ had grown up to be taller than him.

'_And more muscled_,' thought Feliciano as he reached out to touch Ludwig's arms.

"E-excuse me," called Michelle from the door. She bowed before Feli and Ludwig, "I hate to intrude, my lords, but if you are feeling better, Sun Child, then you are free to go." When she stood up she smiled warmly at the duo, "I'm sure you two have so much to catch up on. I don't think a medical hut is the best place to do so."

The brunette winced at a sudden scream from behind her, "Eh, not to mention that one of my patients is in labor and we kind of need the room for—"

"Say no more," said Ludwig. He slowly stood up and started to remove the bed sheets, stumbling a bit as he did so.

Feli was quick to help him, "Let me do this, Tesoro."

"Danke."

Quickly switching the sheets on the bed, and preforming a blessing on the woman—she had practically begged him to when she realized that he was in there, and Feli really had no choice but bless her to the best of his abilities—he looped his arm around Ludwig and together they wandered onto the streets of El Dorado. As they took turns telling each other stories about their life growing up, Ludwig couldn't help but stare at Feli from the corner of his eye.

The Italian had grown to be so handsome…there was _no_ _way_ that he hadn't caught the eye of a pretty girl or another guy back home. Misplaced jealousy suddenly curled itself in his belly at the thought of a faceless man or woman touching Feliciano. _What had they done with him_, he wondered.

Ludwig shook his head in shame. What did it matter if Feliciano had had lovers growing up? He was allowed to, after all everyone thought he was dead. After all _he_ had had one…

Never mind the circumstances of _why_ he had allowed himself to seek comfort in someone like him, or the fact that it had only happened once, any and all residual jealousy drained away to sadness. What would Feli think of him if he were to find out? Would he still want him? Did he even want him to begin with or had their childhood games only been that? Games?

Given the fervent kisses they'd just exchanged, he felt safe enough to assume that no, they had not been games and yes, Feli did very much want him. Then again that could've just been a knee jerk reaction to seeing each other again…

"Ve," called Feli as he released his arm so they could hold hands instead, "Luddy are you ok?"

Ludwig glanced down at Feli's face, taking in the concern and sighed before pulling him towards a bench outside the little building he used to teach children Spanish. He took a deep breath and said, "I love you, Feli."

A look of absolute joy broke our onto Feli's face, "I love you, too, Luddy! Ever since we were bambini playing house with Lovi and Gilbert." Grinning, he toyed with their matching rings, "We're kind of married now, aren't we? Don't worry, we can make a little ceremony for just us if you want. Lovi can—"

"But there was someone else," blurted Ludwig suddenly. He gripped Feli's hand tightly hoping that he wouldn't let go of his. At his silence, Ludwig's heart couldn't help but break a little, "Please say something."

"Uh—um…"

"Feli?"

"Is he—er, or she, still in your—"

"Nein!" Ludwig shook his head rapidly, "It only happened once a few years ago during a festival for the god of rain and lightning, Tlaloc. I didn't know how strong one of the elixirs that I needed to drink was and…well that particular day wasn't my best." Blinking back tears, Ludwig covered his face, "I'd already blessed a few sacrifices before but this time it had included a family my adopted parents and Antonio had been close to. I tried my best to spare them but I'd already convinced Adrian to spare a lot of people that quarter, I couldn't do it again.

"I felt so guilty, Feli, and so ashamed of what I did. I couldn't help but wonder how someone as sweet and good as you could bare to even look at me if you ever found out that I sent a family to a painful death. And _he_ was there, and he was always after me, especially since he knew I was supposed to be yours and—a-and…Feli, I was very lonely that night." Ludwig ran his hands down his face and risked looking at Feli, "I'm _so_ sorry, liebe. I—"

"Stop Ludwig." Feliciano pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped Ludwig's tears, "its ok."

"But—"

"Luddy, it was a onetime thing. It's ok." Smiling softly, Feli ran his hands through Ludwig's hair, down his neck and massaged his shoulders, "As you said, that happened years ago. Did it mean anything to you?"

"No," said Ludwig firmly, "I just wish that I hadn't done it."

Feli stared at him before frowning, "Did this person…force you?"

"No."

"Did they hurt you in anyway?"

"No, Antonio found me before we actually _did_ anything but still... Honestly, it hurt more knowing that I almost did something like that with someone who wasn't," Ludwig trailed off with a blush.

"Who wasn't me," finished Feli with a matching red flush. At the German's nod, he hugged him tightly, "Ve~ I'm sorry, Luddy. I should've –"

"Don't Feli. Don't try thinking about what you could've done or what I could've done, it doesn't change what's already happened."

Feli reached down to hold Ludwig's hand again, "You're right. I want you to listen to your own words, too, Tesoro. We can't change what's already happened, but maybe we can change what will happen in our future."

"You mean…"

"I love you, Ludwig. Even when I thought you were dead, I never stopped. There were days when things were rough for Lovi and me, and I wanted nothing more than to see you again. I knew that there was only one way and if it weren't for my brother, I probably wouldn't be here in this beautiful place with you." Feli stopped himself. Lovi hadn't exactly given him a proper answer when he asked if it was ok to take Ludwig back home with him but his reaction was enough to give him a clue. There was no way in hell his older brother would be ok with him promising Ludwig a ride back.

But there was also no way in hell he was going anywhere without Ludwig. Feli tightened his fingers around Ludwig's before bringing the back of his hand to his lips. No way in hell was he going to leave his heart behind.

Sniffing, Ludwig laughed and tugged Feli back up, "Come on! I want to show you the city. It's so beautiful, isn't it? This building behind me is where I teach the little ones how to speak Spanish."

"I knew it had been you," said Feli with a giggle. He laced their fingers together and allowed Ludwig to pull him along, "Did you teach them Italian and German, too?"

"No, only to Antonio. Adrian thinks that Spanish is the language of the Gods which is why he had me teach everyone how to speak it. You know…for when the gods came, they would be able to communicate."

"Is Adrian his real name? That doesn't really sound…you know, like something from around here. It's actually Greek slash Italian, I think."

Ludwig smirked, "Nein, it's something I started calling him. Told him it was what the Gods called him, heh but really its cause I couldn't pronounce his real name."

"So you chose 'the dark one'?"

"It suits him," said the blond with a shrug. And really, it did. The man had a terrible aurora around him that it made it seem as if he were constantly shadowed by negativity. If you couldn't feel it just standing next to him, then you could definitely see it through his actions.

Feli glanced around the city and took note of how empty it was. He frowned, "Ve…Luddy?"

"Hm?"

"Where is everyone?"

"Uh, well, that's…" Ludwig glanced around as well, barely realizing that his little love had a point. The usually busy market hadn't even been closed properly, there were still stands open with their merchandise spread about the tables. Frowning, the blonde tried to think if today something special was on the calendar, "I actually have no idea, liebe."

They walked further into the city where Ludwig spotted Miguel standing with a bored expression. Tensing, he tried to pull Feliciano in the opposite direction before the Italian could see him as well, "Why don't we—"

Feli's eyes lit up, "Oh! Oh, let's go ask him." Dragging Ludwig along, Feli bounced up and down in Miguel's face, "Ciao~"

"Uh…" Fear crept into Miguel's stomach as he glanced between Feli and Ludwig. Had the Sun Child told their God about what happened between them? Bright amber eyes starred right into his, making him sweat nervously. What did ciao mean anyway? Was it a curse? Was he going to lose his bits because he nearly soiled his soul mate?!

"Where is everyone," asked Feliciano curiously, ignoring how uncomfortable Miguel was. He smiled up at Ludwig, the corners tilting down a fraction when he finally noticed how uncomfortable _he_ was. But before he could ask him why, Miguel answered him.

"They're indoors, sir, so that the city could be cleansed. As you ordered."

Feli frowned in confusion, "Cleansed?"

"Indeed, my lord, so that the age of the jaguar may begin. As you ordered."

Opening his mouth to ask what he meant by that, Feli was jostled by a civilian as he tried to run back into his home. Ludwig helped him regain his balance but Feli gently nudged him away to run after the guards that was close on the poor man's heals. What the hell was going on here?

The Italian jogged up to the guards just as they were going to beat the man, "Hey! What are you doing? Stop that!" Feli pushed his way past them and stood protectively in front of the man, the commotion drawing out curious bystanders from their homes.

"B-but my lord," stuttered Miguel nervously, "anyone caught disobeying your orders must be punished. A-as you ordered."

Seeking out Ludwig's hand Feli glared at the ground, "It seems I've been giving out too many orders, haven't I?"

"Yes, my lord, but we don't mind. My uncle Itzcóatl—er, I mean, the high priest Adrian, has made your will for us perfectly clear."

"I see." Annoyance churned inside Feliciano's belly and he made sure that Miguel new it. Snapping his eyes back up to meet his he lifted his chin, "Ok, well here's a new order. Take the day off and if you see any El Dorado citizen going about their business, you are to leave them be." When the guards made no move to do as he asked, he puffed his cheeks out, "Well don't just stand there like idiots, go do as I said." Grinning at the two baffled guards he added in a kinder voice, "Besides, don't you guys have a cutie you'd rather spend this day with?"

Flushing themselves, they scurried to do just that, leaving Miguel to study Feliciano before finally taking his leave. When they were out of sight, Feli turned back to the paralyzed man on the floor with warm eyes. He offered his hand to him, "Are you alright? They didn't hurt you did they?"

They man trembled in fear and darted his eyes between the Italian's hand and Ludwig who smiled at him gently and nudged his head at Feli. Misinterpreting what the sun child meant, the man pulled off his gold earrings and shoved them into Feli's hands before running away. Feli blinked in confusion, "Ve? Luddy, was it something I said?"

Ludwig shook his head and picked up the earrings to sit them next to a small monument to the god of water, "Nein, liebe. The people here were taught to fear you by Adrian. I'm honestly rather surprised though, since I taught them that you and your brother were gentle gods. Well…_you_ at least are."

"Lovino can be gentle when he wants." Chuckling, he maneuvered their hands so that they could lace their fingers, "Remember when we would play house? You, me, Gilbert and Lovi?"

Ludwig led them towards an alley that would take them to the river with a grin, "Of course! You were my husband and Gilbert was our son. And—"

"And Lovi our puppy," they said in unison before falling into a fit of giggles. Ludwig's fingers unconsciously tightened around Feliciano as if his body still needed a reminder that this wasn't just some beautiful dream. Or that he had actually died and the gods had granted him this paradise of an afterlife.

Shaking his head, Ludwig was about to propose that they go to his home when Feli suddenly perked up at seeing another person outside. He dragged Ludwig towards an elderly man who didn't react to his presence. Ludwig bent down and whispered, "This is Itotia. He's blind but makes beautiful string instruments. Why don't you talk to him?"

Feliciano knelt down before him and hugged his knees, "Ciao~"

Itotia's dark leathery hands slowed in their work before he called out to Ludwig in his native language. Ludwig's voice, responding back kindly, sent a warmth through Feliciano that he never thought he'd feel again. Sighing happily, Feli tried again, "Ciao, Signore Itotia~"

The elderly man closed his eyes and smiled back, "You honor me, my lord. I've heard tales of you and Lord Lovino since I was a bambino as you say. When the sun child arrived to us from the sea and told us of your arrival I was excited, especially with everything he told of you and your brother. I only wish that I had my sight so that I may witness your glory first hand."

A single tear rolled down the elderly man's cheek but before he could wipe it away in embarrassment, he felt a warm hand upon his face, a thumb wiping it away. He held his breath in awe, far too stunned to even attempt to believe that his god, the sun god of all beings, had done something so human—so wonderfully human— to a mere mortal like him.

"Please don't cry," breathed Feli, "it makes me sad that I can't give you sight. I—" Well he couldn't very well tell the old man that he was a fraud…Quickly thinking on his feet, he said, "My powers can't return something like that as much as I would love to. But you don't need vision to witness my glory. I…my glory resides within _you_."

The Italian held Itoltia's hands in his and gently squeezed, "It is in the food you eat and the warm water you bathe in. It is in the art you create, the music that is made from your sun kissed hands." To prove his point he gave a soft kiss to the tops of both hands before placing them upon the unfinished instrument. He watched in delight as the hands moved quicker to finish assembling what looked like a guitar.

"Y-you kissed my hands, my lord," exclaimed Itoltia, a wide smile on his face, "Lord Feliciano, I could die right now and yet I would still be happy to have been blessed by you in such a way!" As soon as he finished his work, he shoved the instrument into Feli's hands, "Here, please, as a token of my adoration for you."

Feli blushed, "Oh! Ve, I don't—"

"I insist, my lord. It would make me happier to know that the Sun god is in possession of my work."

Ludwig gave an encouraging nod to Feli and the Italian gave in, "Grazie! I'll treasure it forever." He plucked a few notes and giggled, "It sounds lovely. Ciao~" He followed after Ludwig until the blond found them a nice little spot under the shade of trees and other vegetation. The blue and gold tile seemed even brighter in this particular court yard, smaller variations of the colors making up a mosaic of water and golden fishes. Feli sighed, "I don't know how I feel about this whole God business."

"I know it's strange but you aren't harming any one," said Ludwig as he watched curious citizens come a little closer to them. He continued in Italian, "It was mother's—well Antonio's mother's idea. Call it selfish but she did it to save me and her family. As one of the sun God's, your, spouse, I had a lot of influence. One of it being able to spare lives during sacrifices. Plus, I think the people are rather fond of you and Lovino."

Ludwig motioned to a group of bystanders who had stepped out of their home to get a better look at the couple. The whispered amongst each other and smiled knowingly at their sun child. Feli beamed at them and struck a few playful chords which sent the children ablaze with joy as they dared to come closer. Soft hoof steps echoed down the alley and Johann peered curiously at the scene, giving a gentle nicker at the people so that they could clear a path to his master.

"Ah, there you are," chirped Feli. He grinned at his horse and nodded to the children, "Would you like to play with them?"

Standing up to stretch, Ludwig stroked his fingers through the horse's mane, "Whose this?"

"Johann. Isn't he handsome?" Feliciano offered his guitar to a man who was eyeing it appreciatively and helped a little girl onto Johann's back, "He reminded me of you."

"How so?"

He made sure that the child was securely holding onto Johann's reign before turning back to Ludwig, "He has your pretty eyes~"

Blushing, Ludwig shook his head and pulled Feliciano away, "Don't say things like that…it's embarrassing."

"Ve~" Feli waved goodbye to the jovial crowd and followed after Ludwig.

His beloved's embarrassment quickly evaporated, getting overtaken with eagerness to show Feliciano his home. Along the way, he learned that the Italian had developed a passion for knowledge concerning the sciences, botany in particular, so he made sure to take to see all the plants in El Dorado. Feli carefully plucked samples and pressed them into his book for later research. Ludwig was about to point out another flower when Feli suddenly ran past him and into another corridor where a man was feeding a flock of multicolored birds.

Shaking his head fondly, Ludwig followed him and asked the man for a bowl of bird feed so Feli could feed them as well. The grains attracted some of the larger birds who startled the Italian when they lowered their heads to eat straight from his hands. A warm childish delight shone from Feli's making but it slowly dimmed when the birds walked away after eating their fill.

Not wanting to see it die so soon, Ludwig thanked the man for letting them feed the birds and pulled Feliciano towards the waterfront. He grinned at Feliciano and said, "If you think those birds were big, just wait till you see the turtles. This one is Antonio's."

They stopped before stone steps and Ludwig slipped out of his sandals and took the first step down hit a small gong. He offered his hand to Feliciano, "Come on."

Feli took his own shoes off and took Ludwig's hand, "Where is it?"

And just as he asked, a heard emerged from the water. The turtle blinked lazily before emerging completely upon recognizing Ludwig. Feli's eyes widened, "Woah, she's huge! How old is she?"

"Well, according to Antonio, she's been in his family for four generations, so…"

"She's pretty~"

"Hop on."

"Ve?"

Ludwig produced a small pouch with dried fruit and gave some to the turtle, murmuring in El Doradian, "Will you take us down the river to the Azul district?"

Chirping, the turtle took her snack and allowed Ludwig and Feliciano onto her back. The sudden movement when the turtle started to move forward accidently made Feliciano jerk forward but Ludwig was quick to catch him. Exchanging smiles, Feli watched as the blond excitedly pointed out all his favorite places they passed by. It was his turn to see the raw childish glee in Ludwig's eyes and Feli couldn't help but stare in enthrallment instead of paying attention.

But really, how could he?

Even with all the riches all around him, even with everything he ever wanted at his fingertips—wealth, new things to study, and adventure—he was content with just watching Ludwig talk. And the people here! Oh, god, the people.

As soon as the couple reached the other side of the riverbank, they were eagerly welcomed by another group of El Doradians and lead to the center of the square where they presented him with small blue tile. They looked him expectantly. Feli glanced at his tile then at the beautiful celestial design before him in different shades of blue tiles when it suddenly became clear what they wanted.

"Ah, okie dokie!" He knelt down and carefully positioned the final tile, "There~"

"P-please, my lord," said one of the guards from earlier. He bashfully glanced at his partner before motioning to the tile, "would you do us the honor of...um…" Glancing at his partner again he made a flicking motion with his finger in a silent question to know what the word he was looking for.

Feliciano knew what he meant and chuckled, "Of course." Gently flicking the first tile over, the gold sheen of their bellies fell over and turned the night into day. Pride in seeing the Vargas sun loom over the golden tiles, Feli smiled at the guard, "It's beautiful~"

"Y-you think so, my lord?"

"Of course! Grazie. Really, from the bottom of my heart."

The El Doradians cheered; pleased that they could make their God happy in a way that didn't involve gutting one of their own or another horrific method Adrian liked to sacrifice them in. They followed after him and Ludwig as they were suddenly dragged to the royal court yard by Máximo's children where the youngest boldly threw a ball at Feliciano.

Not expecting it, Feli didn't react in time and the small leather ball hit him on the head.

A sudden hush fell over them all, tears misting over the child's eyes in fear of retribution from either the sun child for harming his beloved or from the sun god himself but none came. Instead Feliciano tossed his head back and laughed, "Ve, don't worry, little one! Here," he rolled the ball onto the top of his foot and kicked it up so he can keep it in the air with quick little kicks with his knees, "I'm ready this time~ Try to go easy on me." He winked up at Máximo, who smiled warmly at the scene and motioned to all the children, "I don't think even a simple sun god like me can take on so many fierce little warriors."

Ludwig leaned against the blue and gold brick wall, not minding the coolness upon his skin, and watched fondly as Felciano played with the little ones. His time here spent seeing and learning the ways of a whole new world in a way only his father and Romulus dreamed they could've had the chance to, changed his way of viewing life. Hell look at him. Here he was barefoot and dressed in a nothing but a cloth which was definitely something he'd never imagine he'd be seen out in public when he was a child. His hair was loose and hanging in his eyes, though he suspected that Feliciano liked it this way. But despite his outward appearance and more, what he considered to be, pagan ways of belief, one thing still remained the same.

The ball hit the wall over him and Feliciano cheered for the child who apparently scored the point against him. Eye's drooping with content, Ludwig didn't even care that the people were whispering amongst themselves, exchanging gleeful words of gratitude that they could witness the love between their Sun Child and Sun God.

He didn't care because how could he? It was true and with out question. He loved him.

Laughter rose from the royal court yard and into Adrian's temple. Rolling his eyes, he stepped away from his nephew and looked out his window, sneering at the sight of Máximo and his people enjoying themselves in the presence of Ludwig and Feliciano. However, his mild disgust was replaced with confusion when he saw Feliciano playing with the children.

Adrian flipped through the pages of the book he was reading and frowned. The images inside showed the Sun Gods playing, true enough since they were the creators of the game, but they were shown playing with other blood thirsty beings or at least ones similar in nature. Clicking his tongue, he straightened his attire, "This isn't what I expected at all. Lord Feliciano is far too soft on these peasants. Perhaps Lord Lovino will enlighten me on this matter."

He ignored his Miguel's questioning gaze and made his way to the Sun God's temple.

* * *

**Happy New Years! I'm very sorry for taking a while to get this up. I hope you guys didn't lose interest T_T I really wanted to focus on my nursing school, which thankfully I managed to get all A's. 2015 was a rough and interesting year..a lot of things happen, some good, some bad...mostly bad. I hope that this year is better though, not just for me but for all of us~  
**

**I'm sorry that this story is mostly Gerita, well this chapter at least. Lol, but I know that a lot of you guys were eager to see their reunion and here it is, at long last. I feel like I could've done more to make their date better but I kind of started to feel guilty because this was supposed to be a spamano fic and low and behold, my love for Gerita took over it. I want to do a Aladdin one though after this maybe, and that one for sure is going to be pure Spamano. What do you guys think? I had also wanted to write a Pocahontas Prucan/USUK as a sequel to this one. Either one will do but please let me know which one you guys would prefer to read first. **

**I hope I can get another chapter up before school starts up again**

**~Until Next Time**

**HeroineOfDarkness: Thank you for understanding ^_^ Actually you made me feel better about going at my own pace. Lol, and don't worry. Lovi will be embracing the Antonio next chapter alright ;D lol!**

**maryranstandler1: Thank you! Also, I saw on your tumblr that you had an idea for Gerita, what is it? If you don't mind sharing that is ^^**

**VivaAmerica: Lol, yes he did! Exciting doesn't even cover it...lol I got mugged on my last day of school and since it was finals week, there were hardly enough parking which meant I had to park further away in the garage. **

**pastaadict: haha! Thank you for your support and patience with me and the stories. Hearing from you and all my regular reviewers always make me really happy!**

**romanos-curl: Oh no, I completely understand =) School comes first, as it should. Lol, don't be embarrassed. I've cried while writing some scenes and I think that's even more embarrassing. I'm not sure if your following/reading Love Has No Recipe but the amount of times I cried and laughed at my own stupid creations in that fic is ridiculous lol! Oh my gosh! His back muscles and the wine! I can't write what they were doing in detail but I think I may do it as a separate little dirty fic cause, my god, the vision I have for it 0.0 lol, I'll give you more spamano interaction next chapter. The tame version, though lol**


End file.
